


Cats, Bats, and Birds, Oh My!

by kmj07



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:47:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 45,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25227037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kmj07/pseuds/kmj07
Summary: Genevieve Thornton merely wanted a job. What she found after applying for the position of Selina Kyle's assistant, however, was a whole new life. Crossposted from Fanfiction.net.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A word of caution for this tale. I'm writing this for fun. I'm not all that fussed about accuracy or canon compliance. I'll be pulling from what I know from the comics, various cartoons, Young Justice, and both the Justice League cartoon and movies. So, if you're looking for perfectly accurate information, look elsewhere. I'm just having fun playing in the Batman sandbox. Characters may be a little out of character, relationships might be different, and I'll be pulling from basically every corner of the DC universe. That being said, if you don't mind a little inaccuracy here and there, I hope you'll stick with me and Genevieve! Thanks for reading!

"So, what made you decide to apply for this job?" Ms. Kyle asked me.

I grinned at her. "Well, I've always been pretty passionate about being able to buy food." I paused as she laughed full-out. "In all honesty, I need a job, and I'm sick of working at the Iceberg Lounge, getting leered at by half the customers. The other half try to grope me, so it's really time for a change. And I found your ad first thing when I started looking, so I figured it couldn't hurt to try."

Ms. Kyle looked at me for a long moment, like, really looked at me. And for a long enough time to make me start to feel uncomfortable. Until she broke out into a grin. "I like you, Genevieve Thornton. You've got spunk, and you seem honest. Which means I need to be honest with you in return. You'll rarely have anything resembling normal hours. You'll always be on call, never have weekends truly off. Christmas Day is pretty much the only day you'll have to yourself. You'll help me with everything from everyday appointments to planning my wedding. I have six cats, and I'm always open to the possibility of adopting more. But, if you work hard for me, I'll be the most fiercely loyal employer you could ask for. Does that sound like something you'd be interested in?"

"I don't really have a social life, so that's not really a damper," I told her. "I can handle hard work, I've been doing it since I was a kid. And I even like cats. So, when can I start?"

She laughed again, seeming completely genuine. "We can sign the papers today, if you'd like. I'll give you a week as a trial, see if we mesh. If, after the week's over, either of us feel like it's not going to work, no hard feelings?"

"Sounds good."

"Perfect. And if you can survive Bruce's brood at the benefit this Saturday, I think you can handle anything. Sign here, and welcome to the Wayne Foundation."

…

After signing a whole tree's worth of papers, it was nearly six o'clock, so Selina ("I hate hearing Ms. Kyle. Makes me sound like some old spinster society lady.") gave me the rest of the night off. "Enjoy your last night of freedom," she told me, grin still firmly in place. "I'll see you at ten in the morning."

Having an evening to myself was a bit of a novelty. I had to call and quit at the Iceberg, of course, but after that, my night was my own to do with as I chose, a fun change. But, in the end, I celebrated my new job by simply buying myself some ice cream and going home to binge watch "Celebrity Spotlight". It was a bit weird to think that the incredibly elegant woman on my screen was now my boss, but I knew I would get used to it. I mean, I'd gotten used to the fact that my boss's boss was a supervillain, so this was probably easier, to be honest.

I woke up stupidly early Tuesday morning, for once actually excited to start a new job. It did mean that I had about four hours to kill after I did my hour of yoga and got ready, but it also meant I could squeeze in stopping by my favorite coffee shop. I also decided I could treat myself to a muffin along with my nonfat latte with extra whip. It's the little things in life that make me happy.

My security badge was waiting for me at the front desk, just like Ms. Ky- Selina had told me it would be. Taking the elevator to the penthouse was a bit of a trip, in more ways than one. I'd never been the kind of girl who goes to the penthouse before, but life changes, and I always change with it.

"Genevieve, you're early. I like that," Ms.- Selina said, smiling at me when I stepped out of the elevator. "Let's get started."

…

That week flew by in a blur of appointments, take-out, late nights, lots of planning, and laughter. So much laughter. I quickly discovered that Selina's humor was a lot like mine, dry and sarcastic, often snarky. In fact, I felt drawn to her in a way that I'd never felt before, like she was someone who was simply supposed to be in my life. And everywhere we went, people asked us if we were sisters.

"We don't really look like each other," she said Saturday afternoon, after the seventeenth time being asked that week. "We both have black hair and green eyes, but not even the same shade of green. And I'm paler than you, and taller."

"And you're curvier, and I've got freckles," I pointed out, shoving Thai food into my mouth. "I get asked if I'm over sixteen all the time because I still look like a kid."

"Only when you're wearing yoga pants and your glasses with no makeup," she teased. "When you're all dolled up for work, everyone thinks you're at least eighteen."

"That's terribly helpful, thanks, Sel," I scoffed.

"That's what big sisters are for," she grinned. "Now, I'm going to assume you don't have anything to wear to the benefit tonight, so we're going to look through my closet to see what we can find."

I gaped at her. "What? I can't wear one of your dresses!"

"Precious, you're adorable. I can't let you go with me in anything less than couture, you wouldn't let me buy you anything, and I know you can't afford it yet. And besides, it's too late now. I've made up my mind. So, up you get. It's show time," she told me, pulling me up from the couch and chivvying me toward her bedroom.

Half an hour later, the dress was chosen. It was a simple mermaid gown with a sweetheart neckline, a peacock feather pattern along the bodice. It was almost the exact shade as my eyes, making them stand out. I definitely did not look like a teenager in it.

"It's perfect," Selina purred. "It's one of my older ones, so no one will know it's mine. And we don't even need to take it in, since my boobs were smaller then. You look amazing. Do you need shoes? You've got tiny feet, but we could always go shopping," she added with a grin, expecting my reaction.

I growled, though more amused than annoyed. "I hate shopping." As I'd told her many times already.

"But you've never had a billionaire's credit card at your disposal before," she countered.

"I've got shoes, Sel."

"I'm going to convince you yet."

My car arriving saved me from her assault. "I'm going to go home and get ready," I glared, but completely without heat. I changed back into my clothes and put the dress in a garment bag, her laughter following me the whole time and all the way to the elevator.

In anticipation of the long night ahead, I allowed myself to take a ridiculously long bath. Both of my roommates were still at work, so I didn't have to worry about anyone interrupting me for once. I took extreme care while shaving my legs, then slathered in the lotion Selena had gotten as a sample and didn't want. It was really nice, but one of her cats had turned up his nose at the smell of it. I thought it smelled good, so I didn't need any feline opinions.

Swaddled in my ratty old robe, I did my hair and makeup, paying far more attention than I normally did. Selina texted me that she was ten minutes away, so I scurried to shove lipstick, my ID, and my new phone (thanks, Selina!) into my clutch, before climbing into the dress. It took a bit to finagle the zipper on my own, but I managed it, then slipped into my strappy stilettos, just as my phone buzzed again. I didn't bother to reply to Sel, simply locked the door behind me and ran down the stairs. Well, I say ran, but it was more of a carefully orchestrated fall down three flights. The combination of tight dress, very high shoes, and a small stairwell was a challenge, but I came out the victor.

Selina gushed over my appearance, swearing I might even look twenty-one. I ruined it by sticking my tongue out at her.

As Bruce Wayne's fiancée, and the head of the Wayne Foundation, Selina was obligated to arrive early so that she could help greet the guests. But we arrived early enough that, after a quick introduction to the man who practically owned Gotham, she and her billionaire found a nearby closet to make out in. That left me awkwardly wandering around Wayne Tower without anything to do, other than not get in the caterers' way.

"Mom, you look amazing." An arm went around my waist, and I turned to meet very started blue eyes above lips poised to kiss me. "You're not Selina."

"And the prize for the most obvious statement goes to Dick Grayson," I retorted. "Is Selina okay with a grown man calling her mom?"

"Well, I've been doing it since I was nine, so it's not going to stop any time soon," he grinned.

"And are you going to take your arm from around my waist any time soon?"

His grin grew even bigger, but Selina interrupted. "Dick, I see you've met my new assistant!" She and Mr. Wayne were suddenly right in front of us, looking impeccable, except for the dark lipstick on his face.

"I have, and she's lovely. But Bruce, that's not really your shade," Grayson smirked at his adoptive father.

Who in turn looked to Selina with a sigh. She was completely unrepentant. "A few people might need a reminder that you're taken, Tiger."

"But I don't," he countered, pulling an actual handkerchief out of his pocket to wipe at the stain. "I know exactly who I'm going home with tonight."

"That's a good answer," Selina cooed.

Mr. Wayne simply smirked. "Dick, where's Damian? He was supposed to be here by now."

"Tim and Steph had a… an unexpected delay in leaving for Central, so Alfred's bringing Little D now," Grayson replied, after giving me the tiniest of side eyes.

Mr. Wayne nodded. "Please keep him from getting into too much trouble. And keep him away from Mrs. Haymore. I don't think she's recovered from the last time she… encountered him."

Grayson grinned, but Sel spoke before he could reply. "Now, Kitten, I'm leaving my utterly fabulous assistant in your capable hands. Keep her entertained. And Precious, if he does anything you don't like, feel free to break something. Preferably on him."

"Will do!" I chirped with a grin of my own.

Selina and Mr. Wayne headed to the entry to greet the richest people in the city. But I turned to Grayson. "You still haven't answered my question, Mr. Grayson."

"It's Dick, and which question might that be, Miss Thornton?" I was beginning to think his default expression was one of mischief.

"Are you going to remove your arm from my waist any time soon?"

"Probably not. I quite like it there, and besides, you heard my soon-to-be stepmother. I'm supposed to be keeping you entertained."

"I think you could do that without clinging to me. And how do you know my name? I never told you." I was a bit confused on that point.

Dick lowered his head to whisper, "Do you really think Bruce wouldn't do a background check on his fiancée's assistant? 'Cause I'm the one who did it."


	2. Chapter 2

With that little bombshell, I stared at him. It was a bit disconcerting to look a person in the eye when they knew my entire history. "Why did you do it?" was my eventual question.

"Really? Because being a wealthy woman in her own right is enough of a reason, and I really shouldn't have to mention the part where she's engaged to a billionaire."

"No, I got that. Of course, she would have done a background check," I replied, waving it away like it was nothing. "What I want to know is why you were the one to do it."

"Oh." Dick's face lost that vaguely disappointed expression. "I used to be a police officer, in Bludhaven. I still have some friends who can pull strings."

That made sense. "I probably wouldn't have even gotten an interview without passing, right?"

He smirked. "Let's just say that after an obsessed fan who tried to kidnap her, another who tried to drug her to force her to marry him, three who tried to use her to get closer to Bruce, another who tried to get closer to me, and a reporter going for an undercover scoop, a cocktail waitress with no history of mental issues seemed like a refreshing change from the norm. And that's just in the past year."

"Well, I can assure you that I am none of those other things," I promised, feeling a tug at my heartstrings for Sel. It would suck to have to constantly wonder if someone really liked you or was just using you for who you were, or at least who they thought you were.

"Not even the one who tried to get closer to me?" Dick asked, face innocent but blue eyes twinkling mischievously.

I stretched to whisper in his ear, plastering myself against his side. "I'm not entirely certain that we could get closer without removing clothing."

His arm tightened around my waist as his eyes darkened. But our little tete-a-tete was interrupted by "Grayson, do you really have to keep that close to Kyle's assistant? You know she won't last much longer, so what's the point of getting attached?"

"And you must be Damian," I said, pulling away from Dick. Oddly, I missed the contact. But I turned to see a teenager, who looked like a tan, mini Mr. Wayne who was about to throw a tantrum.

"I'm so glad you know who I am," he said, faking enthusiasm. "It's not like my face hasn't been plastered all over those rags people call magazines for the last two years."

"D, be nice. Selina actually likes this one," Dick warned. "And she's lasted longer than about three of the previous assistants already. I've got a good feeling she'll be the one to break the curse."

"Do think with your upstairs brain, Grayson," Damian said cuttingly. "I'm going to get some food."

As he was walking away, Dick called after him, "Bruce said to stay away from Mrs. Haymore!"

"Then Mrs. Haymore shouldn't bid on antiques she knows nothing about," he replied, never bothering to turn around.

Dick sighed, then turned back to me with a charming smile. One that was completely false. "I'm sorry, he was dropped on his head as a child. Repeatedly."

"He clearly doesn't like me," I laughed, not terribly bothered. After all, he was a kid. I hadn't liked a lot of adults when I was his age.

"Damian doesn't really like anyone," he corrected slightly. "Outside of the family, anyway, and even then, it's iffy. He doesn't even like Selina, but that's because he thinks she's trying to replace his mother."

And there I go, empathizing with the Wayne munchkin. "I can imagine having a stepmom would be hard," I said, trying to steer clear of my own feelings. Especially in an ever-increasing crowd like this.

"Not for most of us. I've known Selina almost as long as Bruce, and she's always been there for me. Same for Ja- Tim. But D sees her as a replacement for his mother, and he doesn't understand that Talia was just using him to get back at Bruce. I mean, the kid is twelve."

"Richard, dear, how lovely to see you!" A woman, probably in her forties, glided up to Dick and kissed his cheek, awfully close to his mouth.

"Rebecca, always a pleasure," he replied, then wrapped a hand around mine, tugging me closer to him. "This is Genevieve Thornton."

"Oh, you're not related to the Metropolis Thorntons by any chance?" she asked leadingly.

"No," I smiled sweetly. "I'm Selina Kyle's new assistant."

Her smile froze. "Oh, that's nice, dear. I've just seen Emmaline Richards. I've been dying to see her." And off she swanned.

"And she just remembered that I'm an adopted circus brat," Dick breathed into my ear with a laugh.

"Hopefully she donates a lot to make up for her horrible personality," I whispered back.

His eyes lit up. "Selina may have ordered me to stay close to you tonight, but she needn't have bothered. You're far more interesting than all the society snobs."

"I do believe that's the nicest thing you've said all night, Mr. Grayson," I said, as breathy and high as I could manage.

Dick laughed, tucking my hand into his arm. "Shall we peruse the items on auction, Miss Thornton? After all, we are here for them."

"I'm here because my boss said I had to be."

"Same. But there are some pretty cool things here. And if we look at them, people will be more likely to leave us alone."

"Oooh, good idea!"

As we walked up and down the aisles of donated valuables on auction, Dick and I talked about how my first week with Selina had gone. I assured him that I was loving it, and he seemed relieved. "The first time I met Selina," he said, eyes and smile going soft, "was at an event a lot like this one. Bruce had the annual Wayne Christmas ball, only a few months after he'd adopted me. He wanted to cancel, not really sure if I was ready for something that big, but he was… pressured into it. And I was so not ready for it. There were so many people, and I was having problems with crowds then, and nobody really wanted to see me there. If someone actually acknowledged me, it was so fake and patronizing. Except Bruce, of course, but he wasn't used to having a kid to look out for yet. And he was busy playing host to the top two hundred of Gotham. Something triggered a panic attack for me, and I hid underneath the buffet table." He laughed in good-natured self-deprecation.

"And Selina found you?" I guessed, already knowing how she probably would react to seeing a child so upset.

Dick laughed again. "She did. She followed me under the table, actually, and she calmed me down. She hugged me and told me that she sometimes got scared around other people, and that that was okay. Then we made up ridiculous stories about the people belonging to the shoes we could see underneath the table cloth, until Bruce came looking for me."

"And what happened next?" I was way too interested in how this story would end up.

"I joined them under the table," a deep voice behind us said.

I turned to see Bruce Wayne behind us, with Selina on one arm and a teenaged girl with dark hair on the other. "My kids have always been my first priority, even if I don't always show it."

"You do a pretty good job, B," Dick grinned, and the girl nodded seriously.

Selina smiled proudly, and a bit adoringly. "Precious, this is Cassandra, Bruce's daughter. Cass, meet my new assistant, Genevieve Thornton."

"It's nice to meet you," I said. Selina had already warned me that Cassandra didn't speak much, so it didn't bother me when she simply bobbed her head again, this time with a tiny smile.

Mr. Wayne seemed to be pleased, though I wasn't sure if it was because of me or his daughter. Probably his daughter, though it may have had something to do with the fact that I seemed to be somewhat normal for his fiancée. "Cass, why don't you stay with Dick and Miss Thornton? Selina and I need to go make a grand statement."

For someone not well-versed in sarcasm, his words might have sounded a bit air-headed, which fit the public perception of the man. But for someone who spoke the language, it gave me a hint of the man behind the mask, so to speak. Perhaps he really was a good match for my sparkling, snarky employer, even if he did hide it.


	3. Chapter 3

Cassandra switched to her brother's other side while Selina and Mr. Wayne made their way to the stage where the band was quietly playing smooth jazz. A small signal was given to them to bring the music to a swift finish. "Thank you all for coming tonight," Mr. Wayne said into the microphone, beaming at everyone, mask firmly in place once more for the world to see. "It means so much to me that you're all here to support a cause so dear to my heart."

"Only because it's dear to mine," Selina smoothly interrupted, grinning up at him.

"What's dear to you is dear to me," he replied, looking at her with so much love and adoration, he was in danger of becoming the personification of the heart eyes emoji. A general chorus of "Ahhh" brought them back to the present. He cleared his throat, pinking a tiny bit. "I'm pleased to announce that with the donations you'll be making tonight, we will be able to bring the New Leash on Life to Gotham, helping to rehabilitate both prisoners and animals who otherwise would be put down."

Enthusiastic applause broke out through the crowd, but something struck me as odd. "No one here seems like the kind of person who would care about prisoners or animals," I whispered to Dick.

"That's because they aren't," he murmured back. "But Bruce's charity benefits are the biggest social events in Gotham, so they come anyway."

That made sense. I nodded and tuned back into what Mr. Wayne was saying. "-giving love and support to one another. Many have found-"

But we never heard just what it was that had been found, as a loud burst of gunfire cut him off, sending everyone scurrying toward the exits, which of course were blocked off by several men each. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Mr. Wayne, Gotham's favorite son," a smarmy voice behind a black ski mask said. "Bet you wouldn't be the favorite if you weren't the richest."

The guy who appeared to be the leader stalked toward the front where Selina and Mr. Wayne stood alone on the stand. A fierce sort of desperation filled me. I couldn't lose her! I'd just barely found her! But an arm around my waist kept me where I was.

"You can't help them," Dick hissed at me. "Not by getting involved. Stay here with me."

I gaped at him. How on earth could he just stay back while the guy who'd raised him was in danger, not to mention Selina?

"If we play along, we're far more likely to get out of this safely," he assured.

"Happens a lot," Cassandra added, seeming far too nonchalant for the situation. But then again, they were the children of the billionaire, so they probably had dealt with it before. After all, it was Gotham. So, I allowed Dick to tug me a little closer to him and tried to rein in my thudding heart. It wouldn't do to have a heart attack in the middle of a hostage situation.

The man in charge, also known as the man with the biggest gun, continued ranting about how the wealthy in the city sat high above the rest, fat and happy in their security, while the rest of the city starved. The wealthy reveled, while the rest of the city burned. Pathetic attempts were made to help, but only to appease their sense of noblesse oblige.

"I'm surprised he even knows what that means," Dick muttered, dragging a quiet, nervous laugh from me, and an amused huff from Cassandra..

As the man rambled, enumerating the sins of the wealthy and Mr. Wayne in particular, I couldn't help but disagree with him. Oh, sure, for the rest of the people in the room, everything he said was probably true. But for Mr. Wayne? Even before I'd started working for Selina, I'd known that Mr. Wayne was the biggest supporter of the city. He was always trying to make things better, donating gobs of his own money before ever asking for others to do so. Hospitals, orphanages, clinics, and schools all benefited from his patronage, as did theaters, animal shelters, and prisons. He may well be Gotham's favorite son, but it was a well-deserved title.

And then the guy started in on Selina. Calling her the mistress of ill-gotten wealth, a spoiled little girl who cared more about her pets than the citizens of her hometown. He must not have known that Selina was the one behind this current benefit, the entire reason everyone was there for him to rob.

"Oh, come off it."

Everyone looked at me, and that's when I realized my big mouth had really gotten me in trouble. I was even a little surprised. I'd never known I was that stupid.

"What are you doing?" Dick asked me in a whisper, as everyone else around us quickly scooted out of shooting range. Only he and Cassandra stayed by me. Dick's arm was still around my waist, actually, pulling me so close I was practically glued to his side.

"I have no idea," I whispered back, in a sort of terrified calm.

Mr. Big Shot stomped his way to right in front of me. His gun was held at his side, at ease but still alert. "What did you say?"

Well, in for a penny, I thought. "I mean, come on. Sure, a good chunk of people in this room couldn't care less about the average citizen of Gotham, but I'm pretty sure you just chose the two who care more than anyone else. Mr. Wayne donates over a million dollars every year, so I'm okay if he decided to spend money, that he actually made himself, on his family and friends. And Ms. Kyle, you do realize that she's a self-made woman, right? She started at the bottom, and now she's the head of the biggest charity foundation in the country. A spoiled brat? I think not."

The man stared coldly at me, his brown eyes seeming rather dead. "And what would a pampered little princess like you know about Gotham?" the guy hissed.

"Um, I grew up here," I said, ignoring the warning voice in my head that said I probably should have shut up about five minutes ago. Like when they had shown up. "And I don't mean in a mansion outside town. I grew up in Crime Alley. I know what Gotham's like. And I know what the Wayne family does for this city."

"You don't know anything!" he spat.

"Maybe not, but I'm sure you're not some Robin Hood, coming in here to rob the rich and spread it to the poor," I shot back.

"Wow, I didn't know rich people parties had so much spunk."

Another voice drew my gaze away from Mr. Big Shot and to another man holding a gun. But this one wore a leather jacket over his black suit, with a bright red helmet topping it all off. "I don't know who you are, but I like you," the Red Hood told me, with Bat Girl and Red Robin right behind him.

Mr. Big Shot looked around, presumably for his guys, and I did the same. But I couldn't see any. "Thanks for distracting this guy," Bat Girl said, grinning at me. "It made it a lot easier to take care of his goons."

Any reply I might have made was cut off by Mr. Big Shot grabbing at me. But he was stopped, in turn, by Dick punching him in the face. Cassandra calmly grabbed his gun and bashed him in the head with it, knocking him out cold.

"And Father says I don't know how to behave at parties," Damian said, suddenly appearing out of nowhere, just as the police came pouring into the room.

Mr. Big Shot was cuffed and being carried away, none too gently, when arms flew around me. "Precious, I've never seen anything that brave or that stupid before in my life," Selina said, hugging me tightly and glaring at me fiercely. "Never do that again!"

"I wasn't planning on doing it this time," I laughed, weakly leaning against her. Now that the danger was passed, so was my adrenaline. I sank into her arms until she was all but holding me up.

"That was incredibly brave," Mr. Wayne said quietly. I looked up at him, and for once, he didn't seem to be wearing any sort of mask. It was pure Bruce Wayne, caring about the love of his life. "Thank you for standing up for us, even if it was foolish. I'm incredibly glad Selina's finally found someone who's as loyal as she is."

Having Bruce Wayne looking at me like that, and saying things like that, I couldn't help it. I blushed horribly. "I just- It's not fair to either of you, what he was saying. You guys do so much good around here. I don't understand how anyone could accuse either of you of not caring about our city."

"So, Spunky New Girl, do you happen to have a name?" Red Hood, who apparently had finished helping the police to gather all the goons, popped back up, nearly under my elbow. "After all, you've got to be the most exciting thing to happen at a place like this."

Selina rolled her eyes, but Dick, I swear, growled. "She's not a piece of meat."

"She's definitely hotter than a piece of meat, Dick," Hood quipped back, emphasis on Dick's name. I couldn't help but snicker, even though I quickly smothered it when Dick shot me a mildly wounded look.

"Thanks, but I'm not terribly interested in vigilantes," I told Hood.

Who proceeded to laugh. "Well, gorgeous, with that mouth you've got on you, I'm sure I'll be seeing you around town. Maybe your opinion will change by then."

"Don't count on it."


	4. Chapter 4

After gobs of police questioning, Mr. Wayne and Selina convinced nearly all of the donors to stay and finish the auction. "After all, if we allowed someone like that to stop us, we'd be letting him win," Mr. Wayne said, back to his society persona.

But as soon as she could make her way back to me, Selina was sending me home. "I've already had three people asking about you," she told me quietly. "And none of them have been complimentary."

"So, you're sending me away before I can embarrass you further," I finished for her. I managed a snarky tone, but it was only to hide the hurt and betrayal I was feeling.

"Precious, I am so proud of you for standing up like you did, even if it was stupid. I'm sending you out so you don't have to deal with the horrid snobs," she assured. "You deserve a break. I'm not embarrassed by you at all. In fact, Dick, Kitten, take Gen back to the manor, will you?" she said, snagging her future stepson by the arm and dragging him into our conversation. "She needs some of Alfred's hot cocoa."

"Absolutely," he grinned. "Alfred makes the best cocoa. Let me grab Cass and tell B-"

"I'll tell Bruce," she interrupted him with a self-satisfied grin.

"Do I have any choice in the matter?" I said, reminding them that I was still there.

"No," they chorused, wearing matching mischievous grins. "I'll see you at the manor," Sel added, kissing my cheek before flitting off, every inch the perfect society hostess.

I somehow managed to find myself in Dick Grayson's car five minutes later, with Cassandra sprawled across the back seat. "You really can just take me to my apartment," I told Dick, who was navigating Gotham's late-night traffic with ease.

"That's not happening," he said, shooting me another grin.

"Not worth it," Cassandra chimed in, startling me a bit.

"What's not worth it?" I had no idea what she'd meant by that.

Dick hummed along to the radio for a minute, speeding up now that we were outside the city. "Bruce likes to have us all at home after something like that, even now that I have my own place. And Selina obviously counts you as one of hers, so it's not worth the constant calls and texts that would ensue if we didn't listen and took you to your apartment. Not to mention the lecture I'd get if I disregarded a direct order. And besides, we're here now, and you've got to try Alfred's hot cocoa."

I had to admit, I had been far too enthralled watching Dick talk and drive to notice we'd arrived. Looking out the windshield, I saw a huge, imposing building. That house, if you could even call it a house, was older than most of the city. And probably could house most of the city, too.

My door opening brought me out of my reverie. "It's not as bad as it seems," Dick grinned at me, hand held out for me to take. I allowed him to help me out, and for some reason, I didn't pull my hand away once I was standing.

Cassandra was ahead of us, and just as she stepped onto the first step, the massive doors swung open. "Home so soon, Miss Cassandra? And I see you've brought a guest, Master Richard." The tall, thin man had a distinct British accent, and I couldn't help it. He was just so much the perfect stereotypical butler that it made me laugh. I blamed it on a delayed reaction to the stress of the night.

Dick pulled me into the house, fighting a smile himself. "Alfred, this is Genevieve Thornton-"

"Mistress Selina's new assistant," the butler finished, nodding slightly in my direction. "It's a pleasure, Miss Thornton. And I believe you all stand in need of my hot cocoa. It's on the stove. Come along."

By now, I was able to get my giggles under control, and I was feeling more than a little embarrassed. "Don't worry," Dick whispered to me as we all walked behind Alfred. "We all laughed at first, too."

"I believe you laughed just last week over the thought of Master Bruce having a British butler," the man himself said, from fifteen feet in front of us. "And I still have excellent hearing, no thanks to you and your brothers' efforts."

We made it through the ridiculously huge house into the kitchen, where I was instantly hit with the delicious scent of chocolate. "Alfred, if your hot cocoa tastes even half as good as it smells, you've just gained a new best friend," I sighed. I sort of wanted to bathe in that scent.

"I am always available for a new friend," he said diplomatically, pouring his nectar into mugs for all of us. "After all, if Mistress Selina has already decided that you belong to her, I am quite sure you'll be here for a rather long time."

Laughing, I protested, "I don't belong to-"

Dick cut me off with a knowing smile. "You've already gained a cat-themed nickname. You are officially hers now."

"Precious is cat-themed?" I pondered that while sipping nectar of the gods. "Yeah, I can see it. And that's why she calls you Kitten?"

It was rather entertaining to see Dick blush. "She's known me since I was a kid," he defended. "I was pretty small for my age."

"It's adorable," I assured with a grin.

"It really is, Dickie Bird," a new voice joined us, and I turned to see a new guy walking into the kitchen, holding a motorcycle helmet.

"Says the one Selina calls Stray," Dick shot back.

"Master Jason, you know the rules," Alfred said mildly, but there was no mistaking the steel in it.

To my great surprise, the new guy, apparently Jason, looked abashed. "Sorry, Alfred, forgot it was in my hands," he murmured, turning around to leave the kitchen. When he entered again, sans the helmet, the proverbial light bulb went off for me.

"You're Jason Todd," I stated, somewhat in shock. The guy nodded, seemingly amused. "But you're dead."

"I'm a very intelligent zombie," he quipped, causing Dick to face palm.

"He was really sick, we didn't think he was going to make it," Dick told me, glaring at his brother. "The press reported it as if he had died, and when he got better, Bruce agreed to let him stay 'dead'." Here, he used finger quotes, with another glare aimed at Jason.

"Okay, but why? Why would you want to stay dead?" I asked slowly, trying to figure out any advantage the situation might bring.

"Three words for ya," Jason told me, accepting the mug Alfred had silently filled for him. "Bruce Wayne's kid."

That I could understand, a bit. But only a bit. "So, you decided to stay dead to avoid the paparazzi?"

"Among other things."

"No school," Cassandra added, snagging the first cookie off the tray Alfred brought out.

"I actually liked school, so that's a negative, but only one of the few," Jason contradicted.

"Genevieve, would you like a tour of the house?" Dick cut in, looking more than a bit exasperated with his brother.

But before I could answer him, Jason piped in with, "Oooh, tours! I love tours! C'mon, Gen," and grabbed my hand not occupied with the most delicious hot cocoa I'd ever had.

The tour was most definitely not what I'd expected. Instead of highlighting all the portraits on the wall or the expensive decorations, Jason started out pointing at all the places that had an embarrassing story to go with, usually embarrassing for Dick. Who then had to retaliate, of course, and it devolved into a childish game of one-upmanship, which was terribly entertaining. Especially when it ended with Cassandra pointing at the giant chandelier in the entryway with an impishly raised eyebrow. They both instantly shut up, looking far too sheepish for me to be able to let it rest.

"What happened with the chandelier?" I grinned.

"Which time?" A deadpan English voice from behind surprised me. I looked back to see Alfred with an empty tray in his hand. "Terribly sorry for startling you, Miss Thornton. Might I take your mug?"

"Yes, please," I agreed politely. "Will you tell me the chandelier story, Alfred?"

Still with that perfectly stoic mask, he nodded, though I could see the amused gleam in his eye.

"Really, I don't think we need to hear that story, Alfred," Dick tried to coerce.

Jason jumped into the fray. "Have you heard from Bruce or Selina yet, Afie? Do you know when they'll be home? And are they bringing the demon?"

"The demon?" I had no idea what, or who? he was talking about.

"Don't refer to your brother like that," Alfred corrected. Enlightenment flooded as I realized that he had meant Damian. "And I have heard from them. They don't think they'll be home for several hours yet. Why don't you watch a movie, show Miss Thornton the theater room? And find her something more comfortable to wear, boys. She's been wearing high heels all night." He collected our empty mugs and headed back to, I assumed, the kitchen. "And Miss Thornton, if you'd like to hear the chandelier stories, come find me. I'm always in a storytelling mood."

I grinned at that, and then more once I saw both Dick and Jason grow a little paler. "Movie sounds good," Jason said quickly.

"Let's find you some other clothes," Dick added, just as quickly. He wrapped his hand around mine, tugging me up the stairs. "Sorry I didn't think about your heels. We wouldn't have dragged you all around the house if I'd thought about it."

I laughed. "I wore these all night at my last job, and I was on my feet the whole time. I can handle wearing heels. But I wouldn't say no to taking them off, either."

Cassandra slipped down the hall just as we reached the top of the stairs, already in a comfy looking black hoodie and gray sweats. "My pick," she said mischievously, then hurried down the stairs, presumably to the theater room.

"I didn't even realize she'd left," I gaped after her. "Is everyone in this house a ninja or something?"

Dick and Jason just laughed, a bit too hard, before pulling me down the hall.


	5. Chapter 5

Dick herded me into his room and headed straight to his closet. "I'm sure I don't have anything in your size," he grinned at me, "but I've got some sweats that you could tie tightly and a hoodie, if you want it."

"Sounds good," I replied, taking the proffered items, then headed to the bathroom he pointed out to me. "Thanks."

"No problem. I'd get something from one of the girls, but Cass is… particular about her clothes, and Steph's room is always a disaster, so I wouldn't even know what was clean."

"This'll be just fine," I assured. I shut myself in his bathroom and changed quickly, tying the pants as tightly as possible to keep them from falling off my hips. Dick wasn't the biggest of guys, but he was still quite a bit bigger around than I was.

"Are you decent?" I called out after pulling the hoodie over my head, enjoying the subtle whiff of Dick's cologne I caught.

"Depends on your definition of decent," he laughed, sounding a little muffled.

I huffed a laugh of my own. "Do you at least have pants on?"

"Yeah, it's safe."

I opened the door, then threw the dress over my arm, scooping up my shoes with the other hand. "Where should I put these?" I asked, then froze when I caught sight of him.

Dick Grayson in a tux was a glorious sight, one that I'd been gifted with all evening. But Dick Grayson in pajama pants and nothing else was utterly heart stopping. He was all hard lines and sinewy leanness, and all I wanted to do was press myself up against those hard lines and never let go. Down girl, I told myself. No jumping the guy you literally met hours ago.

"Oh, here, I'll take it," he said, slipping his hands around the dress and arranging it over the comfy-looking chair in the corner. "You can just leave your shoes there, too, until morning."

"Until morning? You're keeping me prisoner until then?" I teased, watching out of the corner of my eye as he grabbed a shirt and dragged it over his head.

"Actually, Selina's keeping you prisoner. I'm just following her orders. Do you want some socks? Hardwood floors look pretty, but they're not exactly the warmest."

I nodded, then caught the pair he tossed my way. We both took a moment to put them on, then he stood up, pulling me with him. "Now, let's go see what movie Cass picked."

Still with my hand in his, he led the way back downstairs, then down one more flight. "The theater room is the best," he promised, grinning back at me.

And it really was. I'd paid money to see a movie on screens smaller than what Mr. Wayne had in his basement, and with probably far inferior sound systems, too. The seating area, as it were, was a sunken portion of the floor, filled in with incredibly comfortable-looking cushions. Smaller pillows and blankets were thrown hither and yon, with Cassandra cozily ensconced in one corner. "Alfie made snacks!" Jason called, careening into the room with a gigantic bowl of popcorn. Somehow, he managed not to spill any. "Go get comfy," he ordered me, motioning to the cushion pile with the bowl.

I was not sure where I fit in to the dynamics of seating, feeling so far out of my depths that I was more than floundering on the inside, so I headed for the opposite corner as Cassandra. But Dick had other ideas, tugging me back to sit next to him, with Cassandra on his other side. Jason claimed the spot next to me, and we all busily piled pillows behind us to get comfortable. I also snagged a blanket, then accepted the popcorn bowl from Jason. "This way, we can all reach it," he said, leaning into my personal space with a sly look.

"Don't start without us!" The girl's voice from behind us startled me enough that I jerked, popcorn erupting around me. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," she laughed.

"No, it's fine, I'm getting used to being around ninjas," I replied, looking to see her and another boy heading our way, loaded with drinks and even more cookies.

"Genevieve, this is Stephanie and Tim," Dick introduced.

"Nice to meet you ninjas," I said, grinning up at them. Tim smiled back, but Stephanie cackled.

"Oh, I like you already," she declared, jumping to sit next to Jason. "But you, I'm mad at. Why didn't you wait for us? You knew we only had to wait for Alfred to get the cookies on a plate."

He just shrugged with another smirk, taking the drinks from her and passing them around to the rest of us. "Now, Cass, which movie did you pick?" he asked his sister.

She answered by simply pushing play, and soon enough, a familiar logo filled the gigantic screen. Since we'd all seen it, many times for some of us, conversation still flowed while we watched the fictional superheroes fight off the horde of Ultron bots.

"Who's the best fictional superhero?" Tim asked, around a mouth full of cookie.

"Black Widow," I answered without hesitation, though I was echoed by Cassandra and Stephanie. "Though Peggy Carter is a close second."

"Oh, yeah," Stephanie agreed enthusiastically. "She rocks."

"Peggy Carter's not a superhero!" Jason argued loudly. "She doesn't even have any superpowers!"

"Neither does Black Widow, and you still call her a superhero!" Stephanie countered.

"Neither does Batman, and everybody calls him a superhero," I added. "At least, I don't think he does. I mean, I've never met the guy, so I don't know for sure."

There was a lot of muffled laughing, but when I asked what it was for, they all lost it. And none of them would tell me what was so funny.

After the movie ended, Selina and Mr. Wayne still hadn't arrived, so we simply started the next one. Cassandra curled up next to Dick, her head on his shoulder, and Stephanie sprawled out across both Jason and Tim. She just cuddled in further when Jason protested, so he simply moved her long hair from across his face and settled back in, resting his head on my shoulder. "You're so comfy," he told me, eyes glinting merrily.

"Yes, exactly what every woman hopes to hear," I huffed back, shifting him so his head was more on my stomach. "If you're going to lay on me, you might as well not put my arm to sleep while you're at it."

I really wasn't sure how it happened, but by the end of the movie, I somehow found my head on Dick's chest, which was warm and surprisingly comfortable. And with Jason's added warmth at my back, I stopped fighting sleep and simply closed my eyes.

…

"Aw, they look so cute, Bruce," I heard Selina's coo through a haze of sleep. "Like a pile of kittens."

"Isn't the saying usually a pile of puppies?" I could hear the amusement in Mr. Wayne's voice.

"That's just ridiculous. Everyone knows it's kittens." Another blanket settled over me, lulling me back to deeper sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Waking generally tended to be a rather instantaneous experience for me, but not that time. I first became aware of being comfortable, and warm. Not too warm, just that delicious warmth that makes you want to stay right where you are and sleep for an age. Next, a slow realization that an arm was tossed over my hips, and a face pressed into my back. I wiggled a tiny bit, earning a small snort from that face. A smack sounded, like someone sleepily hitting someone else. A hand was tangled in my hair, holding me tightly against a very firm chest. Another hand splayed across my shoulder. It was nice, and I really wanted to stay like that forever.

Unfortunately, a snarky young voice had other ideas. "Honestly, anyone could sneak in here and you'd all be dead."

"Only after I kill you," Jason's voice sounded rather muffled, since his face was still shoved in my back. "Bang. You're dead."

"Don't be mean, Jay," Dick said sleepily. Sleepy Dick sounds sexy, my brain oh so helpfully supplied.

"Bang. You're dead, too."

"Stop talking," Stephanie whined, and that smacking sound happened again.

"Why did you even have to wake us up, Damian?" Tim asked, though his pronunciation of his brother's name ended with an "oof!" Like Stephanie might have kicked him.

"Father and Kyle want 'family brunch'." Until then, I hadn't been aware that two words could hold so much disdain. "Just like every Sunday. That means you idiots need to get- ah!"

I looked up in time to see the boy toppling backwards, a giant pillow falling to his side, and a pleased smile curling across Cassandra's face. "Cain! I though you of all people could be trusted to be civilized!" Damian pouted, though I had a feeling he was aiming more for angry.

"We'll be there soon enough, Little D," Dick placated.

"Fine," the boy huffed. "But don't blame me if the French toast get cold." He grumpily stalked out of the room.

"Your brother is so weird," I muttered, burying my face in Dick's chest again. "And I slept in my contacts."

"So?" Jason asked, tickling a bit as he moved. Since, ya know, his face was still in my back.

"So, they're sticking to my eyeballs. They're all dry and shrivelly," I moaned, still not moving from Dick's chest. "You all have perfect vision, I'm guessing."

"Um, yeah, sorry," Tim answered sheepishly.

"Ugh, I'll survive. It'll be okay, after like an hour. And lots of water." So, maybe I was being whiny, but I really wanted to go back to sleep, and now that my eyes were itchy and dry, there was no going back.

Jason stretched against me, his arm flexing around my hips. And then he yawned, his nose skidding along my spine. A squeal escaped my lips. "Jason, move!" I shoved behind me, connecting with his head.

"Is Genevieve ticklish?" he asked, sounding far too mischievous.

"Don't be a jerk," Dick said, pulling me further away from Jason, which ended up with me further across his body. There was another smack, like he'd hit his brother's head.

"Babies," Cassandra teased. She sat up, pulling the blanket off me and Dick. "Food."

That seemed to galvanize her brothers. Jason stood up in one swift movement, sending Stephanie tumbling off him, then Tim shoved her feet off him, too. "You guys suck," she moaned, pushing herself upright, as well.

Dick was nicer, letting me roll off him before he moved. Then, he stood, pulling me up with him. "Alfred's French toast are seriously to die for," he assured me.

"Or to kill for," Jason said, suddenly pushing past me and running into Dick, nearly knocking him over, before running up the stairs. Dick made a pretty interesting sound of surprise, while Tim and Stephanie let out some war cries and took off after him. And Cassandra was somehow on Jason's back, getting a free ride.

"C'mon," Dick told me, tugging me to go faster, a happy grin on his face. "If we don't get up there, there won't be anything left for us!"

And that's how I found myself hurtling up a flight of stairs after the Wayne kids on a Sunday morning, like we were all five, instead of legal adults. I had to admit, though, that it was probably the most fun, spontaneous thing I'd done in years, and the smile it left on my face felt incredible.

"No running in the breakfast room, Master Jason," Alfred reprimanded serenely, bringing our thundering herd to a crashing halt. Literally. I ran into Dick, not being able to stop as quickly as the rest of them, since socks don't have the best treads on hardwood. Dick did manage to keep me from falling on my butt, somehow, before leading me to the table.

The room was gorgeous, as befitted the rest of the mansion. Three walls were glass, allowing the rare summer sunshine to warm the space, and help the multitude of plants growing there. And Selina and Mr. Wayne were seated, looking like a couple in a fashion magazine. Like "The Casual Couple at Home" or something. Damian sat next to Mr. Wayne, nary a hair out of place. Only the heavy scowl lining his face marred the photo perfect scene.

Until the rest of us took seats. We were all still in a varying assortment of sweats, hoodies, and pajama pants, and none of us had even looked in a mirror. Though, somehow, Cassandra and Dick still had perfect hair. I hated them a little bit.

"I'm glad Dick found something for you to wear, Precious," Selena told me, as Alfred served me a cup of the most decadent-smelling cappuccino I'd ever encountered. In my life. "You look a whole lot more comfortable in that than if you'd spent the night in your dress."

"Yeah, it's really comfy, thanks, Dick," I smiled at him. After just a sip of the coffee, I felt much more awake than I had before. Which meant I was reminded of just how dry my contacts were.

"We stopped by your apartment on our way here last night, Genevieve," Mr. Wayne told me, halting my double eye rub.

"I grabbed your glasses, and contact case, along with a change of clothes," Selina added. "They're all in a guest room upstairs for you."

"Is that normal kidnapping behavior? Keeping your captive comfortable?" I teased.

Damian tutted derisively, but everyone ignored him. "It's the best way to keep a captive," Jason told me. "No one wants to hear whining."

"Then maybe you should keep your mouth shut," Stephanie shot back.

He flicked her ear, and she swatted at him, but the rest of the table ignored them, like it was normal behavior. Then again, who's to say it wasn't?

"I figured it would be easiest if I grabbed you some clothes, since we'll be spending the day here," Selina told me, taking some French toast and passing the platter to me. "Alfred's decided that we'll be working on wedding plans today."

"It may still be nearly a year away, but there is much to do before the big day," Alfred said, perfectly placid as he brought out the bacon and sausage. If this was how the Waynes normally ate, I had no idea how they weren't all blimps. They must do a lot of cardio, I decided. "After all the work I put in to get the two of you together, I'm not going to let anything get in the way of your nuptials. Much less lack of planning."

After that bombshell of an order, Selina pulled out a tablet. "You boys don't have to worry; your tuxes are being handled. But Shadow, Sunshine, you still need to decide which dress design you like best. Precious, did you hear back from the florists yet?" she asked me, ignoring Cassandra's wrinkled nose. I wasn't sure if she wasn't pleased about having to pick the dress, or the fact that she had to wear one.

"As of yesterday afternoon, I hadn't, but they might have emailed me since then," I replied. "I can check my… phone," I trailed off as she handed it to me.

"You left it in the foyer last night," she grinned at me unapologetically. "Your clutch is with the rest of your things in the guest room."

"Thanks," I chirped, grinning back at her. After all, I didn't care that she had grabbed my phone for me. She'd paid for it. I flipped through my new emails, but nothing from any of the florists. "Nothing about the flowers yet, but I did get a sample play list from several DJs and bands. And a confirmation from the cathedral. And you do have an appointment with the dress designer on Wednesday."

By this time, there were about three other conversations going on at the table. Mr. Wayne was lecturing Damian, telling him off for calling Stephanie fat, though she didn't seem phased by it at all. Instead, she and Cassandra continued our conversation from the night before, ranking the superheroes of the Marvel comics. Tim, Dick, and Jason put in their own opinions, while also arguing about training. I had no idea what they were training for, but whatever it was sounded intense.

Selina caught my eye and grinned. The grin told me that she knew exactly what I was feeling: awe that THE Waynes were just as normal as every other family in the country, but also awe that they were acting as a family, with me there. I wasn't used to families, so it was a bit different for me. A nice different, I decided.

…

Spending the day at Wayne Manor was a bit surreal, if only because of how normal it was. According to the tabloids, the entire family were a bunch of airheaded bimbos who were too spoiled to understand normal people problems. In reality, the only one who even resembled spoiled was Damian, though, in his defense, Selina had told me that he'd been raised to think he was better than everyone else for the first ten years of his life. "His mother has serious issues," she told me quietly.

But everyone else did a rather good job of at least seeming normal. Stephanie and Tim did homework, while drinking obscene amounts of coffee, at least on Tim's part. Damian was sent to take care of his animals, I think mostly to keep him away from the wedding planning, since his glower only grew with every new detail we discussed. Jason volunteered to help Damian, though I got the feeling that it wasn't to really be helpful, as Dick sighed and followed after them, after sharing a look with Mr. Wayne. And the most important man in Gotham settled in to help Selina and Alfred plan the wedding, while I took notes. Once Selina looked at him with one cocked eyebrow and waited expectantly. "I'll help," he said reluctantly. It was quite entertaining.

I quickly found out that planning a wedding was exhausting. Every tiny little detail apparently mattered, and I had to keep track of them all. Though I wasn't sure I was even necessary. Alfred had a mind like a steel trap, not missing anything. He did finally release us, after spending about four hours planning everything from the cake to the wedding favors to the exact shade of black and white for the décor. And I hadn't realized there was more than one shade for either.


	7. Chapter 7

"So, you seemed to get along with Bruce's kids this weekend." Selina bypassed subtle, going straight for blunt Monday morning.

"They're pretty cool," I replied, grinning at her obvious enjoyment. And the fact that it meant so much to her that I got along with her future stepkids.

"They are pretty great," she agreed. Then, she grinned at me. "And you and Dick were pretty cozy."

"You are so ridiculous!" I laughed. The idea that Dick Grayson might find me interesting or attractive was hilarious. I mean, he usually dated models, not tiny shrimps. "I literally met the guy Saturday night, but yet, you're shipping us."

She smiled, completely unrepentant. "I knew the moment I met Bruce that I wanted to… get to know him better," she ended leadingly, with a suggestive wink.

I sighed, dropping my head to the desk in front of me. "Do I find Dick attractive?" I asked, not bothering to look up. "Um, I'm pretty sure everyone finds Dick Grayson attractive. The freaking Pope would find Dick Grayson attractive. Do I find him interesting? He's funny, kind, and really smart, so that's a big ol' absolutely. Do I want to date him? I barely met the guy like thirty-six hours ago, and I don't really… date well. Or do relationships, period. So, just keep your little shipping fantasy to yourself and be content that you and Mr. Wayne are basically the most perfect couple to ever couple, okay?"

Sel laughed. "I make no promises. Now, have we heard back from LuthorCorp? We do need to meet with Lena, since she wants to do a partnership for the New Leash on Life." And just like that, we were back to business.

Until about one o'clock, when the elevator dinged, announcing the arrival of two ridiculously attractive men in business suits. It was fun to see Sel's face light up. "I was wondering if you were going to make it," she said, stretching up to kiss Mr. Wayne. Dick and I exchanged entertained looks while the other two greeted each other.

"I always make Monday lunch, don't I?" Mr. Wayne replied, after they came up for air.

"Yes, you do," she purred happily. "You're so good like that."

"And that's my cue," Dick interrupted with a laugh. "Genevieve, do you want to grab some lunch with me? These two will be eating each other more than any food, and nobody else needs to witness that."

I grinned at him, ignoring the very smug look on Sel's face. "Sounds good. I'll be back in an hour?" I asked my boss.

"Make it two," Mr. Wayne answered, and, well, his name was on my paycheck, so I wasn't going to argue. I grabbed my purse and followed Dick back to the elevator.

"Thanks for saving me," I told him, once the elevator doors had closed behind us.

"No problem," he laughed, punching the button for the ground floor. "Nobody needs to see their boss making out. Or their parents, and in this case, it's kinda both for me. So, what do you want for lunch?"

We ended up at a little diner close by, one of those mom-n-pop type places where the waitresses call everybody sugar and honey. And with food practically swimming in grease. Yum.

While we ate, we got to know each other a little better. I learned that he was an incredibly talented acrobat, not that he would admit to the talented part, loved old movies, and genuinely believed that there is good in everyone, even in a place like Gotham. And Dick found out that I hated cherries or anything cherry-flavored, adored movies of all kinds, and always tried to do at least an hour of yoga a day.

"So, we're both super flexible," Dick told me with a smirk, causing me to choke on my milkshake.

Laughing and coughing, I had to wipe away actual tears. "That was bad," I replied, once I could speak, that is.

"Jason's rubbed off on me more than I care to admit," he shrugged, still smirking.

I flicked the straw wrapper at him. "You're both idiots."

"But we're fun idiots."

"Jury's still out."

After one of the most enjoyable meals I'd ever had, Dick walked me back to the Foundation. "Bruce and Selina basically have a standing lunch date every Monday. Do you just want to hang with me every week?" he asked. "I mean, unless you really want to lurk while the two of them go at it-"

I laughed again. "No, anything but that, so I guess we'll have a standing lunch date, too."

It wasn't until I walked into the elevator that I realized what I'd actually said. And then I repeatedly smacked my head on the wall. He's just being nice, I reminded myself. Don't get your hopes up, or hormones. That only ends up one way, and that's with a lot of tears and even more ice cream.

…

In less than a month of working for Sel, I somehow found myself pulled further into the lives of the Wayne family. I was expected for Sunday brunch, and only partially because Sel and I had work to do after. The guest room I'd used that first morning there sort of became mine, with Alfred stocking up on all my favorite toiletries. It was only mildly alarming when I discovered that, and I really didn't want to know how he knew it. Mr. Wayne somehow became Bruce to me, except in business occasions. And after Dick got my phone number after our second Monday lunch, it was less than twenty-four hours before the rest of the clan did, too. Steph texted me the most, asking for advice on everything from boys to homework to clothes. "It's like having a big sister," she told me, cuddling into my side for a second before stealing bacon from my plate.

That was something else I was getting used to; with the exception of Damian, none of them really had a concept of personal space. Whether it was Steph throwing herself on whoever happened to be nearest, or Dick giving every female a kiss on the cheek in greeting, or Jason randomly throwing himself on people, it was a bit odd at first. But after a while, it was actually a bit comforting to have Cass greet me with a high five, or Tim drop his head to my shoulder in disgust when his brothers said something really stupid. Though, the fact that all three of the boys liked to pick me up and throw me over their shoulders when I wasn't moving fast enough for them wasn't my favorite part of the whole situation. It's not my fault I have little legs, after all.

It was such a natural thing that as it was happening, I didn't even notice, just enjoyed my time with them. But, as I lounged in Sel's living room in yoga pants and Dick's pilfered hoodie three months into working for her, I was hit with the fact that I'd basically been adopted by her, and by extension, the Waynes. I'd been texting Steph all day, trying to help her get the courage to tell the guy she liked (*cough* Jason *cough*), and finding myself as judge in Cass and Jason's meme war, all while also procrastinating with Sel any actual work that needed to be done by singing nineties pop songs at the top of our lungs. And then, in the middle of belting out I Will Always Love You, it hit me, like a ton of bricks. These people were my family. And that was terrifying.

"Okay, Precious, what's wrong?" Sel asked, turning the music down and coming to my side. "You've gone super pale, and I happen to know you adore Whitney, so what's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm good," I grinned at her, trying to brush it off like it was nothing.

But she knew me too well for that. "Yeah, not buying that for a minute. What happened? Who do I have to beat up?"

I laughed, mildly hysterical. "No one. I'm good, I just- I'm good, you know? Better than I've been in, like, forever, actually. And I always screw up every good thing in my life, so I guess I'm just kinda wondering how long this is going to last?"

Selina looked at me for a long moment. "Do you mean this, us? 'Cause, Precious, I'm gonna hold onto you for as long as you'll let me. And if you're meaning everyone else, they're not letting you go, either. You belong to us now," she told me, wrapping her arm around my shoulders to give me a tight squeeze.

So, of course I had to start bawling. "I've just never had anybody for very long," I sobbed. "Everybody always leaves me, and I don't think I could handle it if you did."

Sel tucked me firmly into her embrace, cuddling me close. "I won't, Precious. I promise. From one stray to another, I won't leave you."


	8. Chapter 8

After my freak out on Sel, I made a conscious effort to make myself relax around everyone else, to not always wait for the other shoe to drop. I let myself enjoy being around my friends, actually letting myself make real friends with the Wayne clan.

I did have to shove down all the more than friends feelings Dick caused to flutter around in my stomach. It really didn't help that he was such a touchy-feely kind of guy, always hugging me, or kissing my cheek, or grabbing my hand and dragging me somewhere. Every touch scorched, though I had to remind myself (many dozens of times a day) that it didn't mean anything. Just because I was slowly coming to grips with the fact that he had somehow become my favorite person without me knowing didn't mean he automatically felt the same way. And he totally didn't. He was definitely the kind of guy who would let you know if he was into you. And even if he was, by some miracle, into me, I was not a relationship kind of girl. So, I contented myself with what I got and remembered that I was lucky to have his attention at all.

…

"Hey, I'm watching a movie at Dick's with some friends. You wanna come?" Steph's invitation sort of threw me, only partly because it was so out of the blue.

"You're watching a movie with friends at Dick's?" I asked, trying to keep up. Though, sometimes I just gave up with Steph. Her mental leaps were occasionally further than I could keep up with. "Why at Dick's?"

"Because his apartment rocks, and mine is tiny and sucks," she pointed out. "So, tomorrow night, scary movies, popcorn, nail polish. Yes?"

"Sure," I laughed. "I'll be there when I get off work."

"Sweet! I'll see you tomorrow."

Somehow, Selina found out about our plans, so just before I was planning on leaving to stop by my place to change before heading to Dick's, she stopped me. "It would be ridiculous for you to go to your apartment before Dick's, since yours in is the complete opposite direction. I've got clothes you can wear."

"You're forever taller than me," I reminded. "The only reason I was able to wear your dress that one time was because you had already secretly had it shortened beforehand."

"We'll see what we can find in my closet," she said, steering me to her bedroom without any remorse. "Oh, look, here's some yoga pants that look like they'd fit you. I must have bought them before I tried them on."

I saw right through that. "What you really meant is that you've now started stockpiling clothes here for me, as well as sending clothes to my apartment."

"Tomato, tomahto," she said breezily, waving my distinction away. "Anyway, they're here, so you might as well wear them."

There was no arguing with her, ever, but especially when she was right about the fact that it would be another hour before I got to Dick's if I went to my apartment first. So, I simply shook my head, gave her a squeeze, and headed to the bathroom to change.

Steph and a few other girls were already there when I got to Dick's luxurious penthouse, and she gave me one of her signature squeezing hugs. She introduced me to the others, and we started chatting. Since they were all in college, they wanted to know what it was like to work for someone like Selina. Someone broke out the popcorn, another the ice cream, and Steph brought the nail polish. "Just don't make a mess or Dick'll kill me," she admonished.

Girly chatting eventually gave way to a scary movie, since it was almost Halloween. I was feeling a bit bored, since, c'mon, I lived in Gotham. A demonic nun seemed like just another day for me. But, just as she was about to kill the girls in the abandoned church, the elevator doors opened, spilling light into the darkened room. Several of the girls screamed. I just laughed.

"Dick, you weren't supposed to be home yet," Steph screeched, while the rest of us laughed, most of them in that relieved sort of way you do after getting scared.

"I finished up early," he said, coming to sit next to me. "I didn't think you ladies would mind if I joined you."

"Other than the heart attacks you caused," one of the girls muttered, going back to the movie.

I waited for a moment, letting everyone turn back to watch the movie. Then, I turned to Dick and whispered, "You had no idea we were here, did you?"

"Not a clue," he whispered back, his laughter causing my hair to flutter. "But I don't mind, especially not if it means I get to cuddle with you." And suddenly, icy hands were slipped along my throat and up my back, tearing a shriek from me.

Which scared the other girls again. But Dick just grinned and cuddled into my side, keeping his hands to himself this time.

…

It seemed like every little thing Dick did made me fall harder for him. And he didn't even have to try. It was just him being himself. I told myself repeatedly that he didn't think of me that way, that I was a friend, or worse, possibly a sister. Like Steph or Cass. That didn't stop my heart from jolting every time his name popped up on my phone. We usually texted throughout the day, just dumb stuff to make the other laugh. So, when I saw he was calling me, I picked up immediately. "Hey, what's up?"

"Hey," he said. Just that one word tipped me off. With my whacky "I'm gonna focus on and analyze everything Richard Grayson" mode I was operating in, I could tell something was bothering him.

"What's wrong?" I had to fight down the panic that rose with the automatic visions of absolute worst possible scenarios.

"Oh, I just kinda had a bad day," he sighed. "And I know it's Saturday and you probably have plans already, but I also happen to know that your boss has a dinner date in an hour, so I was hoping I could hang out with you. I just don't want to be by myself and be grumpy the rest of the night, if that's okay with you."

Even if I had already made plans, which I hadn't, they would have been broken as soon as I got off the phone with him. "Dick, I rarely have plans that don't revolve around Selina, so that's totally fine."

"Are you sure?"

The uncertainty in his voice caused my heart to pinch. "Yeah, come pick me up in half an hour and we can pick up some food. My roommates should be out the rest of the night, so we can watch a movie at my place. Sound good?"

"Yeah, sounds good." Now, I could practically hear the relieved smile he was probably sporting. "I'll be there in a little bit."

Selina, fortunately, had been out of the room while I was talking to Dick. Otherwise, she would have sent me way too many knowing looks over the next half-hour, and that's not counting everything she would have said. But the look she sent me as Dick exited the elevator said plenty.

Dick kissed her cheek quickly while I gathered my things, though I did manage to fit in ogling Dick in his leather jacket. "You kids have fun," she called as we entered the elevator.

"You sound like a grandma," I shot back, just as the doors closed.

Dick laughed at our banter. "You guys sound like siblings."

"Well, she has claimed me as her little sister, so that would be pretty accurate, I suppose," I grinned back at him.

Once outside, he turned to me with a sheepish look. "So, I'm a big dork. I wasn't thinking and brought my bike, so we can't get something to go."

I shrugged, struggling to keep my expression neutral. "Meh, we can just order some pizza," I told him. "But I am glad I didn't wear a skirt today."

He looked me over, grin turning into a playful leer. "That could have made for an interesting ride."

"Oh, shut it," I laughed, shoving the butterflies down. "Where's your bike?"

Dick tugged at my hand and lead me over to his gleaming motorcycle. Even as someone who knew absolutely nothing about motorcycles, it looked expensive to me. "And just how do you keep someone from stealing this? I mean, it's Gotham."

"GPS imbedded in nearly all the parts, not to mention an alarm that goes off if someone touches it without the keys," he told me. "An alarm that alerts me, Bruce, and the GCPD, too."

I was impressed. "That should do it."

He grabbed both helmets, handed me one, and buckled his own on. "Just remember to hold on tight," he instructed me as he climbed on the bike. "And don't let go."

"Thanks, 'cause I needed the reminder." My sarcasm was thick as I swung up behind him. Down girls, I reminded my hormones, which were standing up at attention at just the thought of me being plastered to Dick's back.

I somehow managed to keep from spontaneously combusting from his touch the whole ride to my apartment, though every inch of me was intensely aware of just how well-built he was. And every corner we went around, I might have clung to him just a bit tighter than I needed to. But how could I resist a hot guy in a leather jacket on a motorcycle? The combination was just too much!

Once in my apartment, I told Dick to make himself at home. "I'm gonna change into something more comfortable," I said, shutting my bedroom door behind me. Then my words hit me. "And that's not a euphemism for lingerie!" I added, sticking just my head out the door to correct myself. The sound of his laughter filled the apartment as I changed into some shorts and his hoodie. I realized with a pang that it didn't quite smell like him anymore. Time to steal a different one, I plotted silently.

Dick's lingering gaze when I walked back into the living room was rather heartening, even if I did feel it was rather unwarranted. But the way his T-shirt clung to him, now that his jacket was off, absolutely warranted my further ogling. "So, pizza?" I finally asked, breaking the growing tension.

We couldn't decide which pizza place to order from, let alone what kind, so we eventually settled on Chinese. After twenty minutes of playful arguing. And then, it took us another fifteen to decide on a movie. "IT just isn't scary when you live in Gotham," I complained. "I mean, Pennyworth just lures people into the sewer and kills them. I live in a city that has Killer Croc in the sewers and the Joker on the streets. Fiction just doesn't compare to real life. Not to mention, I just think of Alfred every time I hear the name Pennyworth now."

"Fine, Wait Until Dark it is," Dick acquiesced. "And thanks for indulging my love of old films."

"My vote is probably always going to be for Audrey. She's amazing."

Both Dick and I had already seen the movie, many times for both of us, so we chatted while we watched. Mostly, I moaned about Steph and how she was so afraid to tell Jason how she felt. Especially since Steph had been texting me all night about it.

"They would be good for each other," Dick said cautiously, "but are you okay with that?"

Stabbing at my noodles, I asked, "Why wouldn't I be?" Why did my feelings have any bearings on their (possible) relationship?

Dick's forehead crinkled. "Don't you- I mean, aren't you interested in Jason?"

I choked on my food. "Jason? No- No, I am very much not interested in Jason." You, yes, Jason, no. "Why did you think that?"

"Well, he's always flirting with you, and you usually flirt back."

I laughed and relaxed back next to him. "Jason flirts with everything that moves and isn't related to him. And I know it's not meant seriously, so I flirt back just for funsies. It's nothing serious, and he knows it. We both do."

"That's good to know," he said cryptically.


	9. Chapter 9

Trying, and failing, to keep my hormones from running crazy with that, I asked, "Why is that good to know?"

"Oh, just that it would be a little awkward if you did like Jason, and then he and Steph got together," Dick replied, stealing one of my dumplings. "Not to mention it would really suck to constantly have Steph talking about her feelings when you had feelings for the same guy."

"Yeah, that would suck." I forced a laugh, but my stomach dropped through the couch below me. Of course, that's all he meant. Not that he had feelings for me.

After a few minutes of silence spent watching the movie and eating, Dick turned to me. "Am I ever going to get that hoodie back?"

"Nope," I cheerfully replied, or at least pretended to be cheerful. "I know for a fact that you have about seven other hoodies between your apartment and the manor, so you don't need this one."

"I suppose you're right. And you do look pretty adorable in it," he said, tugging on my arm to pull me into a better position to cuddle. Once he was done arranging me, we were practically spooning. Though somehow, I ended up as the big spoon, tucked between him and the back of the couch, with my face poking out over his shoulder. It meant I was extra warm, but it also meant he could probably feel my pounding heart against his back.

He always liked to cuddle when watching movies. I was pretty sure he couldn't watch one without snuggling up next to someone else. It wasn't personal. It didn't mean he was interested in me for anything more than a friend. I did wonder what he did when he went to the theater to watch one, though. "I think I need another picture of you in my hoodie," he added, fishing his phone out of his pocket.

"No! I look like a ten-year-old boy in this," I squealed, trying to jerk away from him. It was a bit hard, since he had me trapped between him and the couch. "Wait, what do you mean another?"

Dick grinned over his shoulder at me. "Selina took one of all of us, that first night you stayed over at the manor. You're wearing my hoodie in it."

"And why don't I have a copy?"

"I'll send it to you, along with the one I'm about to take."

"No!" I managed to jerk myself free and climbed over him to grab his phone. However, I underestimated his ridiculously long arms. He kept the phone in his left hand, easily out of my reach, a taunting smirk on his lips.

But Dick underestimated my stubbornness. I lunged for the phone and would have landed on the floor, had he not grabbed me with his right hand. The one that was now on my thigh, below where my shorts hit. He sort of pulled me back across him, to keep me from faceplanting the carpet, and the sudden movement sent me sprawling a bit, arms shooting out to help me balance. So, I ended up straddling his stomach, with my hands clutching his shirt on his chest.

It wasn't my fault, I swear. It had been a long day, and I was tired, and my hormones were simply not listening to me anymore. So, when my gaze accidentally strayed to Dick's lips, and stayed there for a long moment, it was not my fault. It definitely was not my fault that my mouth went dry at the idea of kissing him, causing me to lick my lips. And it most absolutely was not my fault that my hands clenched some more, pulling me just the tiniest bit closer to him.

It was totally Dick's fault that I practically melted when he reached up and kissed me. It was a long, lingering whisper of a kiss, turning my insides into marshmallow fluff. "Is this okay?" he asked me softly. I'd never heard him sound so unsure before, and it furthered the melting process.

"Absolutely," I grinned, kissing him this time.

This time, there was nothing whispery about Dick's kiss. His hand tangled in my hair, pulling me closer to him. Soon enough, I was just laying on top of him, while we explored each other with our hands and mouths.

But Dick pulled back from me just a minute later. "Are you wearing anything under this hoodie?" he asked, more than a little breathless.

"I've got a shirt-" I started to reply, but him nearly ripping the hoodie off me cut my words off.

And then, he switched our positions to where he was looming over me. "You look really adorable in my hoodie," he said, kissing my neck, "and a big caveman-y part of me really likes seeing you in it," here, he kissed my collarbone, "but it was really in the way," he pressed a kiss to my pulse point, "so it had to go."

I had to agree, if it meant I got more kisses like that. And then when he dragged his teeth across my earlobe, I couldn't hold in the little gasp that wanted to escape.

Dick pulled back enough to look me in the eye. "You don't know how long I've been wanting to do this," he said, husky voice sending shivers down my spine.

"It can't possibly be longer than it has been for me," I replied, feeling so deliciously hot, like Dick was a fire that I couldn't possibly get too close to.

He pressed a line of hot kisses to the column of my throat. "Since I saw you in that dress and pretended to think you were Selina," he murmured against my skin.

That surprised me. I knew I'd been instantly attracted to him, but I'd thought it was entirely one-sided. But I wasn't ready to cede defeat, so I slipped my fingers into his hair and tugged him down to kiss my lips again.

But as we were kissing, a voice called out, "Get it, Gen! You go, girl!"

I jerked back to see my roommate, Josie, heading to her room. "Don't mind me," she called, a playful grin on her face. "Keep doing what you were doing!"

She closed her bedroom door behind her, leaving me with a flaming red face and a laughing Dick. "I think we'd better head to my room, just in case Wendy decided to come home, too," I said, lightly pushing him to get off me. "You really don't want to meet Wendy."

"Why not?" he asked as he pushed himself upright.

"Because she's a wannabe sugar baby, just looking for her sugar daddy. And if she ever finds out about you, you'll find yourself with a rather clingy leech."

"I wouldn't mind if you were a little clingy," he said mischievously, then, before I could reply, he threw me over his shoulder and ran to my room.

The door was barely shut before Dick had me pressed up against it, kissing me senseless again. He held me up with ease, which was the only way I could have possibly reached his face. "I'm really glad you're not interested in Jason," he murmured against my throat. "'Cause this would have been really awkward, otherwise."

I laughed, falling for him just a little bit more. "Shut up and kiss me, you idiot."

So he did. And it was glorious. It was like Dick knew just what would make me feel good, just what I liked. I was about to rip his shirt off when he eased back, slowing our kisses until he rested his forehead on mine. He slipped his fingers into my hair, playing with the ends.

"I don't want this to just- I really want this, with you, Viv," he told me, still playing with my strands. "I don't want it to just be some shallow thing. I'm not a friends with benefits kind of guy."

"What if I'm not a relationship kind of girl?" I asked quietly, a little afraid of his answer.

Dick shifted so he could look me in the face. "Are you not a relationship girl, or are you a girl who's had really bad relationships?"

I shrugged. "Maybe both," I said, pushing slightly on his shoulders to get him to put me down.

He did, and I paced a few feet away from him. "I'm not really the kind of girl you should be in a relationship with, anyway."

"Why don't you let me decide that?" Dick's voice in my ear, and his arms sliding around me nearly had me convinced, at least for the night.

"I'm not the kind of girl you take home, someone you show off," I said, turning in his arms to look him in the face.

"Babe, you already have a bedroom in my childhood home, so that's kind of a moot point."

I pushed him away again, reminding myself to keep my distance. It was for his good, after all. "You know what I mean. Sure, I'm good enough to be Selina's assistant, though I know some people still have their reservations on that point. But I'm not part of your upper crust society, Dick. That's not me. I just… I don't fit into that world."

"Viv," he said, using the nickname that only he ever called me, "I think you're forgetting that I don't fit in that world, either. Sure, Bruce was my legal guardian for most of my life, but I was still born a circus brat. The people who care about that sort of thing don't like me, either. But I don't care what they think. I just want to be with you. And all the people who matter in my life already love you, too. Not that their opinion matters in my love life, but you know what I mean."

I let him wrap me in his arms again, allowing my head to drop to his chest. "Are you sure you want this?" I asked, not willing to look him in the eye.

"Yes, Viv, I want this," he said, and I could hear the smile in his voice. "I want you. I want us. What were you thinking would happen after I brought you in here? We'd sleep together once and then awkwardly avoid each other all the time after that?"

"I hadn't really thought past taking your shirt off," I mumbled, feeling my cheeks burn a bit.

Dick laughed, a rumble that vibrated all the way down to my toes. "Babe, you're incredible."

No more clothes were removed that night. Instead, we finished our movie, not that we really paid much attention to it. We cuddled in my bed, somehow making the twin mattress work for the two of us, and talked a lot. And there was definitely kissing involved. Just before I fell asleep, right around three in the morning, I had a thought. "How are we going to tell everybody?" I asked through a yawn.

"That we're together?" Dick clarified. When I nodded, he pulled me closer and kissed my forehead. "I figure we could just go through the front door holding hands. That should clue them all in."

"Dick, you held my hand all the time before this. That's not anything new."

"And somehow, you still didn't get that I'm crazy about you."


	10. Chapter 10

"Viv, babe, wake up."

I was warm, and so very comfy, and I most definitely did not want to wake up. But Dick's voice in my ear didn't seem to agree with my plan for the morning. "Wake up, babe," he said. "We've got brunch in an hour."

"Mmmhmm," I murmured, cuddling into him further.

His chest shook against my ear, and the room filled with the sound of his laughter. "We've got to get home before Jay eats all the bacon," he cajoled.

"I'll survive without bacon for one day," I replied, still refusing to open my eyes.

"I guess I'll have to break out the big guns, then," he teased. But before I could figure out what that even meant, Dick shifted and pressed several hot, lingering kisses to my collarbone. My eyes flew open at the contact, but fluttered shut when he sucked on my pulse point.

"That's not exactly conducive to getting me out of bed," I told him, rather breathless as I dug my fingers into his hair.

"Maybe I've got you right where I want you," he growled. And then proceeded to kiss me senseless.

My shower ended up being rather short that morning, with Dick picking my clothes out. "I showered just before I picked you up last night, so I'm good," Dick assured me. "But I might change later, especially if I can convince my gorgeous girlfriend to go on a date with me tonight."

"Why, Dick Grayson, are you asking me out?" I teased, pulling him out of my apartment.

"Genevieve Thornton, I do believe I am," he grinned down at me. It wasn't quite as much of a distance as it had been the night before, since he'd picked some four-inch heels for me to wear. He said they always made my butt look good, and I had to agree.

"Well, if my boss will let me have the evening off, I'm all yours."

"I have an in with her. I'm pretty sure she'll say yes."

Selina did say yes, once she realized what it meant. "You're finally together, then?" she grinned happily, and far too knowingly.

She, Bruce, and Damian were the only ones at the table so far when we arrived, even though Dick and I were more than a little late. "Yeah," I told her, unable to keep the goofy grin off my face, and Dick hadn't stopped smiling since the night before.

"Ttt," Damian said, his disapproval clearly written on his face. But since he didn't say anything further, I counted that as a win.

"Congratulations, both of you," Bruce told me, smiling a little.

"Uh, don't tell me Dickiebird finally wore you down, Gen." Jason's voice behind us announced his arrival, with Tim and Cass trailing behind. "I thought you had better sense than that."

I laughed, but my mind caught on what he'd said. "Wait, 'finally wore me down'? What do you mean?"

To my consternation, nearly everyone in the room laughed. Well, Damian simply snorted in disgust, and Dick went flaming red, but everyone else laughed. "Precious, Dickie's been chasing you since the benefit. And he hasn't been terribly subtle about it, so I'm not really sure how you missed it for so long," Sel informed me

"Yeah, it's not like he goes around cuddling the rest of us," Tim said, grinning unrepentantly at the two of us.

"Or grabs our hands and won't let go," Steph said, suddenly appearing in time to steal Jason's bacon from his hand.

My mind was still a little slow. "I just… I thought that was just how Dick was," I said, adjusting my whole perception.

"It is!" he protested, but his siblings laughed at him.

"Only for Gen," Steph said, taking a sip of Jason's coffee. "Bleh, when did you start drinking black?"

"When did you start drinking my coffee?" he sniped back.

And that was that. Dick and I were a couple, and no one questioned it. Apparently, it had been inevitable, and I was the only one who hadn't seen it that way. But I didn't mind. I got the guy in the end, and that was all that mattered.

Sel was still over the moon by Monday. She was nearly as happy as I was about my new relationship. "I guess I'm going to have to start sending clothes to Dick's apartment, too," she mused, pulling into a parking spot.

I snorted. "I think it's a bit early for that. Technically, we've slept together, but only in the most literal sense. It's not like we're moving in together." We got out of the car and moved to the back.

"Precious, I love you. You know that." Sel handed me one box, taking another for herself. "But I never want or need to know about Dick's sex life. I've known the kid since he was nine. That's just weird."

I opened the door, propping it open for her. "You're the one saying I need clothes at his house."

"Excuse me for trying to help you prevent a walk of shame!" she exclaimed. "Especially since I'm the one who would witness it!"

I laughed. "You'd still know, if I was wearing something you sent to Dick's."

"Dick? What's that boy done now?" Doc Leslie joined us, motioning for us to put the boxes down in her office.

"He's dating our very own Genevieve," Sel cooed, all but pinching my cheeks in her determination to embarrass me.

Doc looked at me warmly. "Well, he couldn't have picked a better lady."

Blushing horribly, I protested. "You're just saying that because you've known me since I was tiny."

"You're still tiny," Sel poked. I stuck my tongue at her.

"No, you're a good kid; that's why I said it. Now, do you have any more boxes in the car?"

"Oh, yeah. Our coat drive was a smashing success," Sel crowed.

It took the three of us about five minutes to empty out the back of Sel's car, then we settled into a nice chat with the good doctor. She told us what supplies she was getting low on, and how she was worried for the kids on the streets more than usual. "This fall has been pretty cold already," she sighed. "And that's usually a sign of a very harsh winter. I'm just not sure these coats are going to be enough."

"I just wish there was some way to get them all off the streets safely, with someone they could trust," Sel suggested. "I mean, even Bruce and I can only adopt so many of them."

I choked back a laugh. "Between your cats and his orphans, Wayne Manor might as well be Wayne Home for Strays."

"You can't forget Damian's animals," she added with a wicked grin.

"He would be furious if you called any of them strays," I replied.

We talked some more with Doc Leslie, promising to send the new supplies by Wednesday. She walked us out to the car, or rather, she started to. "Harley, what on earth have you done to yourself now?" she said, exasperation bleeding out of her every syllable as she hurried to help the jester bleeding out in her doorway.

"She stopped a guy from snatching a little girl on the street," her friend said, pulling her in to the exam room Doc Leslie indicated.

I'd frozen when I had seen the two-thirds of Gotham's Sirens. Even though the buzz around town for the past few years had said that they'd all turned a new leaf and were more on the side of the vigilantes (I mean, Catwoman was now working with Batman, so that meant something, right?), I was still more than a little wary. But when Harley Quinn let out a giggle and waved at Sel, my wariness ratcheted up to full-on worry.

"Hiya, Kitty, what're ya doin' here?" she slurred, head lolling onto her shoulder.

"Harley," Sel sighed, going to help wrangle her suddenly boneless limbs onto the bed. "Who was the kid?"

"Yeah, who's th' kid?" Harley repeated, but looked at me.

"Harley, Ivy, this is my new assistant, Genevieve. Please don't scare her," Sel introduced, like it was a normal thing to introduce me to reformed(?) supervillains.

"Hiya!" Harley waved, or tried to. She nearly hit Ivy in the nose, instead.

Ivy didn't even flinch, just wrapped her hand around the other's wrist. "Hey, kid," she said, barely sparing me a glance. "Kitty hasn't scared you off yet?"

"More like Broosh," Harley laughed, then groaned. "I a'ready go' stabbed, Doc. Why ya stabbin' me 'gain?"

"I'm sewing it closed, Harley," Doc explained patiently. "Did she also hit her head?" This, she aimed at Ivy, with a bit of concern.

"No, I think it's just the blood loss."

"We're gonna go now, before Gen's more traumatized," Sel announced, nudging me toward the door. "Feel better, Harley. Take care of her, Ivy."

Ivy simply shot her an unimpressed look. "I'm not letting the idiot kill herself. She'll be just fine."

Sel bundled me out the door quickly and into the car. It wasn't until we were back on the road that I spoke again. "How do you know them?"

"I used to be a street kid, Precious," she said, like that explained everything.

Which it didn't. "So did I, and I knew to stay away from them."

"Well, you were still a more law-abiding-ish street kid, whereas I was not," she told me hesitantly. "I may or may not used to have been a thief, and I knew them from those days. We were actually pretty good friends, once upon a time."

"So, did you know them when Harley smashed the Joker with a piano on GCPD's front steps?"

Sel laughed. "I did. Harley was on the biggest high for days after that. That came out wrong. She wasn't on drugs, just-"

"Just the natural high of beating the crap out of her abuser? I get it."

"Yeah, Ivy and I were pretty happy for her. And even with a broken clavicle, she still managed to be so happy. Apparently, it's therapeutic to smash the crap out of the guy who used, abused, and manipulated you. Who knew?"


	11. Chapter 11

Over the next month or so, I settled further into the routine of life with the Waynes. About half the nights, I worked late with Sel, and the other half were usually spent with Dick. I had a night to myself here and there, but for someone who usually craved solitude, I was remarkably happy spending so much time with other people.

One Saturday night, I was thanking my lucky stars that Sel had a date with Bruce that night, which meant I started on my way home far earlier than usual. In fact, it wasn't even fully Gotham night dark yet, which meant it was still early enough to be safe on the streets, so I didn't hurry. I just fantasized about the bubble bath I was going to take and the chocolate chip ice cream waiting for me in my freezer. And that's how I happened upon a rather adorable scene.

"When d'you get so fat, Nightwing?" Red Hood huffed, with the other vigilante on his shoulders. Whose head and arms were in a tree. Still, what I could see outside the tree was rather attractive. Especially that butt. And then I reminded myself that I did have a boyfriend.

"Shut it," came the muffled reply. "You weigh far more than I do, idiot."

"Can you see Fluffy?" the little girl standing next to them asked. Her hands were clasped tightly under her chin, an anxiously hopeful look aimed at the heroes.

"Yeah, but she won't come down," Nightwing grunted.

"Where's your famous charm now, huh?" his friend teased, though still keeping steady, even for the fully-grown man standing on his shoulders. I smiled at their banter. It sounded a lot like what I heard in the Manor.

"Who's the one who actually has a girlfriend?" Nightwing shot back, before making a rather triumphant sound. "Got Fluffy!"

He flipped off Hood's shoulders, with rather a lot more flourish than was strictly necessary, before presenting the most straggly cat I'd ever seen to the little girl. I wasn't even sure it was a cat, it was so ugly, but the girl's eyes seemed to nearly glow as she cuddled it to her chest. "Thanks, Mr. Nightwing!" she called, scampering off, her pet secure in her arms once more.

"I'm pretty sure I did the heavy lifting on this one," Red Hood called after her, sounding slightly annoyed and very familiar, but he just got a giggle floating back as his answer. "Kids these days," he grumbled.

But I barely registered his words. I was a bit preoccupied with staring at his partner. Who just happened to be staring at me. I knew that face, rather well, even for the domino mask across it. I'd been kissing it the night before. At least I didn't need to feel bad I'd been ogling some other guy, I thought cynically.

Red Hood, or Jason, my brain so helpfully supplied, said something Alfred would have reprimanded him for. I didn't care if he swore, but it broke me out of my reverie. "Nice job helping the little girl, gentlemen, but if you'll excuse me, I need to go yell at my boyfriend."

I pushed past both of them, since they were in between me and my apartment, but Dick, well, Nightwing, grabbed my arm. Not anywhere near enough to hurt me, just to stop me, if I let him. "Go to my apartment," he whispered, lips brushing my ear. "I'll be there as soon as I can. Let me explain?"

I looked to the guy I'd thought I'd known better than anyone else, and I could see the anxiety, worry, distress, concern, regret playing across his face. I nodded once, then headed down the street. If I took the next right, I could make it to Dick's apartment in ten minutes.

I made it in seven. Anger (covering up the hurt) made me walk a lot faster than normal, and the look on my face got people out of my way far more quickly than usual, too. But I barely noticed. The thoughts of "How could he keep this from me?" "I thought we actually had something." and "I should have known there was something. There's always something." swirling around my brain kept me plenty occupied, enough to keep the tears at bay, at least.

It wasn't until I was placing my key into the elevator and my hand on the screen to get up to Dick's apartment that it really clicked. Everyone in Gotham (well, everyone with a brain, anyway) knew that the extra flippy Nightwing had been the extra flippy first Robin, so it wasn't much of a stretch to infer that Red Hood had been the second Robin. The one who'd been stockier, snarkier, and far more ready to use his fists. That meant Jason. Third Robin had been a genius with anything technical, just like Red Robin. AKA Tim, the Wayne resident tech guru. Fourth Robin had been a spunky blonde girl, just like Batgirl now. Just like Steph. Batgirl before her had been tiny and silent and terrifying. Black Bat was also tiny and silent and terrifying. Cass was also tiny and silent and terrifying. The OB (Original Batgirl) had been a gorgeous redhead with a thing for Robin number one. Sorta like Dick's old girlfriend, Barbara Gordon. And the current Robin was super tiny, and super angry. Sounds like a certain Damian Wayne to me.

Which meant Bruce was Batman. Bruce Wayne, somewhat infamous for his collection of orphans, and Batman, absolutely known for his small sidekicks. They were the same person.

That thought had me nearly falling out of the elevator once the doors opened onto Dick's floor. I sort of collapsed on the couch near it, far too many thoughts swirling around. Until one more had me shooting upright again. "If Bruce is Batman, and Batman and Catwoman have a thing, and Bruce is in love with Selina, holy- My boss is Catwoman!"

It made so much sense. All the late nights working, followed by late starts in the morning, were all so Sel could go chase bad guys while dressed as a cat. Her obsession with cats really should have been the tip-off, but to be fair, I hadn't known to look. No one goes into a new job wondering if their new boss is going to be a vigilante member of the Justice League. At least, not normal people.

Once I started looking at things logically, I calmed down considerably. I understood why Dick and Sel hadn't told me, even for the tiny twinge that screamed they still should have. But it wasn't just their secret they were protecting. It involved their entire family. And that was a lot more important than catering to my ridiculous need to know everything. But it did explain some of the weird bruises I'd seen Dick and Sel have. And the occasional black eyes and/or split lips I saw around the Manor.

And that's when the panic started sinking in. Every person I truly cared about (plus Damian, minus Alfred, hopefully!) put on a cape and a mask and fought bad guys at night. As far as I knew, none of them were metas, or had any kind of superpower. They were very much normal people, at least in the entirely shootable, punchable, and stabable ways. Sure, they probably had armor of some sort in their uniforms (I really was trying not to think of them as costumes, but really. A giant bat? Really, Bruce?), but even police and military didn't have anything that was completely bulletproof. I knew WayneTech had made huge strides in the last fifteen years or so in that area, which was totally not suspicious at all, but still, nothing completely bulletproof. And knowing my idiotic boyfriend and best friend, they probably would sacrifice some of that protection to be able to keep the flexibility they needed to make their stupid flips and twirls.

And they could die because of it.

That thought pounded over and over and over in my head, accompanied by images of each one of them dead. It was like that terrible scene in Harry Potter where the boggart turns into the corpses of Molly's family, showing each one's death in gruesome ways. But I didn't need magic to envision just what the thugs of Gotham could do to those I cared about. The past proved a sufficient reminder of just what the villains, and even ordinary crooks, were capable of.

I lost track of just how long I sat there, shaking, arms wrapped around myself, while those images ran through my head. How could they do that, every day? And when was I going to lose one of them? But Dick's soft "Viv, baby, are you okay?" had me snapping back into focus.

He crouched in front of me, still in the Nightwing suit, but without the mask or the big sticks he usually had. He looked like he wanted to reach out to me, but wasn't sure how I would take it. Without thought, I launched myself into his arms, burying my face in the crook of his neck.

Dick caught me with ease, settling us on the couch I'd just vacated. "Hey, baby, what's wrong? Hey, I'm here. I've got you. You're okay."

He held me while I shook in his arms. Poor guy had no idea why I was so upset, but he did a good job of trying to comfort me. His fingers running through my hair, never letting me go, murmuring all the while that I was safe, I was okay.

After I stopped shaking, I pulled back, rubbing my eyes, partly to avoid eye contact. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to have a meltdown on you," I laughed awkwardly.

Dick cuddled me back into his arms. "You never have to apologize for that," he said, back to running his fingers through my hair. "I get panic attacks. It's okay, baby. But why don't you talk to me about why you had it. What's wrong?"

I froze up a bit again, really not wanting to talk about it, or even think about it, but I knew it wasn't going to go away. And Dick was stubborn enough to keep at it until I talked to him. "I just kinda freaked out about all you guys fighting all those crazies and the possibility of someone getting hurt, and I really worked myself up, and I hadn't even realized how bad it was."

"Hey," he said, taking my chin in his hand to turn me to look at him. "Viv, we're all really protected, and really well trained, and usually really careful. B- Wait, did you say all of us?"

His abrupt change in topic made me smile, as did the slightly dumbfounded look on his face. "Yes, babe, I figured out that not only are you Nightwing and Jason's Red Hood, but the rest of the family, too, including Sel. Well, not Alfred. Please tell me he's not running around in a mask. I don't think I could take that."

"Alfred being a vigilante would be the breaking point?" Dick smirked, laughing at me. "Well, technically, Agent A has his own codename, but he's definitely support staff, not ground troops. He helps Babs keep tabs on everyone, and he's an amazing field medic. He served Queen and Country in the war, as he frequently reminds us. Though he never tells us which one."

I snorted a laugh. "That does sound like Alfred."

Having gained a smile from me, he grinned back, kissing my forehead gently. "You're right, though, it is really dangerous. But that's why we train all the time, and Bruce gets upset if we go off on our own. We've got each other's backs. And we're really good at what we do."

"I know. I just worry."

"You can always text me. I might not answer right away if I'm busy, but I'll answer as soon as I can. And you can call Alfred or Babs if you ever need anything."

"I'm not going to be a worrywart of a girlfriend," I protested. "At least not while you're out. It might happen after, though."

Dick laughed. "I think I can handle that."

I cuddled into his neck. "How much longer until you have to go back out?" I asked, then kissed the underside of his jaw. That impressively chiseled jaw.

He swallowed. "Not for another forty-five minutes."

"In that case, have I told you how good you look in that suit?"

"No, actually, you haven't."

We made out on the couch like teenagers, both of us trying to distract me from my worry. It worked, for as long as the kissing lasted, but Dick did have to go back out. He slipped his mask back on, looking stupidly attractive, then, just as he grabbed the holster for his sticks, I had an epiphany. "I love you," I blurted out.

Dick froze for a moment, then came rushing back to me. "I love yo-" He cut himself off by pressing a long hot kiss to my lips, and then another, and then another. "I love you, Viv."

There was no stopping the grin that spread across my lips. "I love you, Dick. Now, go be brave for me. Keep Jason from doing anything too stupid."

"I will." He kissed me again, then finally stepped back to finish getting ready. "Why don't you just stay here tonight? I only have to patrol for a few more hours, then I'll come back here and you can see that I'm safe and sound."

"If I stay here, I'm stealing another hoodie."

"I wouldn't expect anything less." One more lingering kiss, and then he was gone, flipping off the balcony like it was a diving board. And taking my heart with him.


	12. Chapter 12

Yoga has been my go-to stress-reducer, if not -reliever, since I started practicing at the age of sixteen. That night, it failed me. I went through my normal hour-long routine twice, but it didn't do a thing to calm me. In the end, I simply huddled in a ball on the couch, while wearing Dick's hoodie, and attempted to watch TV. But that didn't work to distract me, either. Black and Blue, normally one of my favorite shows, was a very bad choice, since it was a superhero spoof of Nightwing. Not terribly conducive to getting my mind off the fact that my boyfriend is Nightwing. Celebrity Spotlight was a no-go, too, since there was rarely an episode without one of the Waynes, at least. The horror movie I caught the middle of scared me far more than usual, since I was convinced at the time that some new crazy in Gotham would model themselves after the villain.

So, when Dick got home, silently coming in from the balcony, I screamed and chucked a pillow at him. He caught it, easily, with a laugh. "At least I know you've got good lungs, in case anyone ever tries to attack you."

"You about gave me a heart attack, so you can shut it," I ordered, glaring at him.

"I'm sorry, babe, I thought you were asleep." He came to sit next to me, but I resisted him wrapping me up in his arms. For about two seconds. "I thought you were asleep, so I was trying to be quiet."

"Why do you have to be so considerate?" I whined, cuddling in. Okay, really, I just basically crawled into his lap. But I'd been worried about him! I figured it was justified.

"I'll make more noise next time," he assured.

We cuddled for a minute, but I really wanted to be okay with his whole vigilante thing, if only so I didn't give myself a heart attack from anxiety, so I asked, "How was it tonight?"

Dick grinned, like he knew what I was doing, but he answered, anyway. "It was good. Quiet, really. Just stopped a mugger and a few guys trying to rob an ATM. And we stopped a girl from getting raped."

"Did you at least kick the guy in the balls?" I asked, feeling particularly vicious at that thought.

"Jason headbutted him while wearing his helmet, so it broke his nose," he told me. "And he threatened to shoot him in the balls if he tried resisting."

"I suppose that'll do," I conceded. "Did you walk the girl home?"

"I did, while Jay got to take the scumbag in. Not gonna lie, that was the highlight of my patrol. That makes it all worth any occasional bruise or cut when I can walk someone home, safe and sound."

"I'm glad." And I was even being honest. "Just as long as you come home safe and sound, too."

…

Just like I had gotten used to life with the Waynes, I quickly adjusted to the fact that they were all vigilantes. Superheroes, really, even if all of them shied away from the term. I did get a Batman warning about the consequences of telling anyone their identities, which was mildly terrifying, even for the fact that I would never tell anyone. Sel just laughed at Bruce after his little spiel, though, and that helped restart my heart.

But each one of them did little things to help me be more okay with it, a little less worried for their safety. Dick texted me near constantly while on patrol, sometimes even sending me snaps of him fighting bad guys. (That didn't help nearly as much as he thought it would, though.) Steph texted me, too, keeping me updated on herself, as well as Tim and Damian. Tim let me know that the phone Sel had given me was encrypted, so I could call Alfred in the Batcave any time I needed assurance. Cass and Jason tended to simply show up wherever I was, just for a quick chat on Dick's balcony or my fire escape. Bruce explained the various protections built into everyone's suits. And Sel sat me down.

"Precious, I know you're worried," she said, giving my hand a squeeze. "And you're right to. What we do is dangerous. But we also know what we're doing. We train all the time, we have all sorts of protection, and we've got each other. We'll be okay. And if we don't do it, who will? Our city needs us. It's how we make our home just a little bit better."

And surprisingly, that worked. It clicked for me. I understood why they did it, felt the same way, really. Minus the whole "dressing up in spandex and beating the crap out of bad guys" part. I was not that coordinated, for one thing, or that strong. But the wanting to save our city? Yeah, I got that. It was the real reason I'd applied to be Sel's assistant. I wanted to help my city.

And the week of Thanksgiving, spending so much time delivering food to the various food banks throughout the city, that feeling was stronger than ever. There were so many kids we saw who were definitely street kids, but they couldn't risk going into the food banks without having social services called on them. And it wasn't the food bank workers' fault; they were required to. So these kids, who were literally starving, couldn't even go in and get the food meant to help them. I tried to drop food where they could get it, but most of the kids were so suspicious of anyone trying to help them that they wouldn't take it. And it wasn't enough. But what else could I do?


	13. Chapter 13

The Monday after Thanksgiving, Sel and I met with Bruce in his office. We were prepping for a meeting with Lena Luthor, discussing the possibilities of her starting a chapter of New Leash in National City, as well as a joint venture that would bring hundreds of jobs to Gotham. Neither of them was convinced that the other billionaire hadn't been involved in her brother's… misdeeds, and as someone else who knew about their alter egos, they really wanted me in the meeting with them. "You've got good instincts, Genevieve," Bruce told me, nearly knocking me over with the compliment. After all, he was the great detective. "We want you to meet her, see what you think of her."

We met all that morning to prepare, stopping for lunch when it was delivered just an hour before Ms. Luthor was scheduled to arrive. Bruce's phone rang just as we started to eat. He excused himself to answer it, assuring us that we needn't wait for him. Sel and I were just finishing when he came back. "That was Damian's school," he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "He got in a fight. Again."

He and Sel shared a look, their entire conversation taking place without a word. Sel nodded, and Bruce then turned to me. "Can you go pick him up? I wouldn't even ask, but Selina and I have to be at this meeting. And Dick's out of town, Cassandra, too, and Tim and Stephanie are in class. And Alfred- Well, the school has asked that I don't send Alfred anymore."

"He's been known to make grown men cry," Sel added.

I could see that. "Yeah, I can go. Damian hates me, but I can go."

Bruce actually sagged in relief. "Thank you. I'll let the school know it'll be you. You'll probably have to show some ID, but that should be it. And you can take my car. It's in the garage."

He handed me his keys, which didn't actually contain a single real key, and I grabbed my purse. I was nearly out the door when he added, "And Damian doesn't hate you. He's just… prickly."

"I think a porcupine has less prickles," I muttered.

It was a good thing that Dick had taken to making me drive his car recently, getting me used to driving again, since Bruce's car scared me slightly. Literally costing more than my entire life, the Aston Martin seemed to dare me to try it. But I wasn't about to let a car get the best of me, so I climbed in. After I started it, I discovered that Bruce had somehow already programmed the school's address into the GPS, which was fantastic, since I'd forgotten to ask him for directions.

By the time I pulled up in front of the school, I was in love. The car responded to the slightest touch, maneuvering so well that it seemed to be controlled more by my mind than my hands. And the buttery leather of the seat was oh so soft. It seemed to be trying to keep me there. But that also might have had to do with my reluctance to deal with Damian more than anything.

I did make myself get out, and entered the building. A guard stopped me, but once I told him what I was there for, he kindly pointed me in the right direction. Really, I was pretty sure he just wanted to ogle Bruce's car some more. But it wasn't terribly hard to find the office, since it was right off the entrance.

"Can I help you, Miss?" the secretary asked carefully, though I caught her sizing me up. I knew she could see that my clothes clearly screamed money (courtesy of Selina), but my height and apparent age probably threw her off.

"Hi, I'm Genevieve Thornton. I'm here to pick up Damian Wayne," I told her, flashing my "I have to be nice to these people until Selina rips them apart" smile. Sel really was a good teacher.

"Oh, yes, he's in Headmaster Samuelson's office," she replied. The way her nose crinkled made me think she wasn't sure what to think of Damian, either. Sure, he was part of the oldest and wealthiest family in the city, but he was… different, and Bruce had made it seem like he'd been in fights before.

"Thank you," I told her, then marched past her desk to the door she'd indicated. I tried thinking as tall as possible, and with the heels I was wearing, I nearly made it to five-five. Nearly.

Headmaster Samuelson opened the door just as I got to it, clearly alerted to my presence. "Ms. Thornton, I presume?" he asked, hand out for mine.

I shook it, noting that he was a lot younger than I'd expected, probably not more than five or six years older than me. I was pretty sure I wasn't what he'd been expecting, either, if the interested perusal he gave me was any indication. "Yes, Genevieve Thornton. I'm here for Damian Wayne?"

"Where's his father?" a snide voice came from further in the office.

"Yes, I expected to see Mr. Wayne," someone else said.

Headmaster Samuelson led me into his office, and I saw the damage. Damian sat, back straight and face blank, against one wall, with a somewhat swollen lip and slightly ruffled clothes the only indications he'd been in a fight. The other four boys, who all looked much bigger and older than him, sat facing him, with a gaggle of middle-aged women fussing over them. Each boy looked significantly worse than Damian, with black eyes, split lips, and at least two broken noses between them all. And that's just what I could see.

"Why didn't Mr. Wayne come?" a third woman asked. From the size of her hair, and the way the others all looked to her as she spoke, I got the feeling that she was the leader of the pack, so to speak.

"Because he's in the middle of brokering a multi-billion-dollar deal that will bring hundreds of jobs to Gotham," I replied calmly.

That got her for a second, but she rallied fairly quickly. "Well, who are you then? Don't tell me he sent his… assistant." The way she said assistant implied heavily that she expected me to be assisting Bruce with far more personal things than work.

"I'm his fiancée's assistant," I answered, but Damian spoke at the same time.

"She's my brother's girlfriend."

"Now that we've established just who Ms. Thornton is, can we get to the subject at hand please, ladies?" the headmaster asked, sounding just as exasperated as I was feeling. And the poor guy had been dealing with it for longer than I had.

"Absolutely! I want that monster expelled from this school!" Head Stepford Wife spat, shaking her finger at Damian. "Look what he did to my little angel!" She grabbed her son's face, turning it this way and that to showcase the bruises and scrapes across it.

"I'm sorry, you're saying that Damian did all that?" I knew he was capable of it, I mean, he was Robin, but to those who didn't know that, the situation looked ridiculous. Damian was small, even for his age, and the others were all at least four years older than him, not to mention probably fifty pounds heavier, easy.

"He just came at us, like some sort of crazy person!" Stepford's son cried.

"So, according to you, a seventh grader attacked four sophomores? Juniors? And won?" I said, incredulity spilling from my every syllable. I did want to get the little guy out of this, if possible. Just because he hated me didn't mean I didn't like him. Sort of.

"Yeah, he just came out of nowhere!" One of the other boys chimed in, then flushed when he realized that he'd just agreed that someone so much younger had kicked all their butts.

"Do you have any witnesses?" I asked, looking to Headmaster Samuelson.

The mothers, and their sons, all burst into accusations and wild threats, but the headmaster simply shook his head. "Our P.E. teacher, Mr. Arthur, broke them up, but he didn't see how it started. He just saw them when he took some garbage to the dumpsters."

"So, you're saying that it's their word against Damian's," I concluded.

"Exactly."

There were many protests at that, and many claims that the boys would never lie, or hurt a fly, or ever do anything wrong. "And they've never been in trouble for fighting before, I'm sure," I said, sarcastic surety coating the words.

That shut them up, and I was glad I had read the boys right. They seemed the type to pick on someone weaker than them. They just happened to be bad at picking. "Well, it seems like those self-defense lessons Mr. Wayne is paying for were worth the money," I declared.

The Stepford Wives didn't like the implication that it had been self-defense, since that cast a bad light on their little angels. It was all I could do to keep the smirk at bay.

In the end, each boy got a three-day suspension, since no one could prove who started the fight. Stepford and Co. weren't happy, but, as Headmaster Samuelson said, they could take their children elsewhere. That shut them up quickly, since everyone knew Gotham Prep was the place to go to school, until college, of course.

Damian was escorted to his locker to get his things, then we left as quickly as possible. I knew Stepford No. 1 was displeased by the way things turned out, and I definitely didn't like the slightly manic gleam in her eye. There was no telling what she might do, so I hustled Damian out to the car.

As it was nearly a forty-minute drive to the manor, I figured I would try to find out just why Damian had attacked the other kids. But I let him sit in silence for a few minutes, lull him into a false sense of security. Then, after ten minutes of nothing but classical music (Damian picked), I chimed in with, "So, what did those kids do to deserve the smackdown?"

He harrumphed. "Smackdown? Hardly a tussle, at that," he said, still looking out the window.

"Okay, tussle, sure, whatever you want to call it. But what did they do to make you react like that?" I knew Damian had a temper, I'd seen it on several occasions. But I also knew that it was usually verbal, at least since he'd had Bruce in his life. They'd worked hard together, and Dick and the others, too, to help him learn to control it, channel it into something less destructive. Now, he only really let loose on the really bad guys, or to defend the defenseless.

"It's nothing, Thornton," he said dismissively, like he usually did to Alfred at his most petulant.

"Listen, kiddo, I'm not your servant. Yes, I am your father's employee, but that does not mean I am your servant. I am not worth any less than you, and I will kick your butt out of this car if you try to treat me that way again," I said firmly. "I'm not Alfred, with his infinite patience. And I had to leave my job, where Selina and your dad were counting on my help with this deal, to come and get you, so check the attitude."

I'd never spoken to Damian like that, not that I'd really spent a lot of time with him, and it sort of shocked him. He wasn't really used to people associated with the family not coddling him. He sat up a bit straighter. "That was wrong of me. It won't happen again."

And that's as close as Damian Wayne gets to apologizing, I wryly thought. "Good," I told him. "Now, if you don't want to tell me what happened-"

"There was a girl," he started, but I couldn't help the words that came out of my mouth after.

"A girl? Do you have a girlfriend?" I teased him.

The look he gave me could have curdled milk. "Who happens to be a scholarship student," he continued, like I hadn't interrupted him. "Those boys," here he spat the words like they left a bad taste in his mouth, "suggested that, since she is from Crime Alley, there's only one profession her mother could possibly have. As such, there was no real need for her to be at Gotham Preparatory, but they could give her the education she needs for her future career."

I knew teenaged boys could be disgusting, but that was worse than even anything I'd heard growing up. "And these are supposed to be proper society boys?" I was utterly pissed, half-tempted to turn around and finish what Damian had started. But I would have been thrown in prison for it, so I continued on toward the manor.

Damian snorted. "Supposed to be. I told them to leave her alone, but that simply turned them to me, instead. One of them suggested that I was so defensive of her because my future stepmother was too much like her. That's when I hit them."

I was even more pissed that they had attacked Sel, but Damian's loyalty struck me hard. Looking around me, I figured out where I was in the city. "So, kid, I can't remember. Are you a vegetarian or a vegan?"

"Vegetarian, why?"

"Because we're getting ice cream," I said, turning a corner, then pulling into the parking lot of the diner Dick had taken me the first time we'd gone to lunch.

"I'm fairly certain one is not supposed to be rewarded with ice cream after getting into a fight." The sarcastic derision in his voice simply brought a grin to my face.

"I'm fairly certain that you'll be grounded from any Robin activities for the next two weeks," I countered. "And I'm not your parent."

Damian looked at me, probably trying to see if I pitied him. After a long moment, he simply nodded. "But you can't tell Father why I fought those boys," he ordered. "Or Kyle."

I agreed. "I won't tell them," I promised. But I made no such promise not to tell my boyfriend.


	14. Chapter 14

With Christmas just around the corner, there were so many fundraisers to arrange and attend and manage, I could barely keep them all straight. And then there was the Wayne Christmas ball, which I'd suckered myself into attending even more by dating Dick. Because as Sel's assistant, I could possibly have gotten out of attending, but as the eldest Wayne heir's girlfriend, there was no way I could avoid it, short of contracting the plague. Per Alfred's instructions (read: orders).

"At least we don't have to plan this one, Precious," Sel tried to console me, but as she was also instructing her favorite designer on exactly what shade of red my dress needed to be ("Absolutely not cranberry, and nothing too oxblood, either"), I didn't feel too consoled.

"It won't be that bad," Steph said, shoving three marshmallows into her mouth. I didn't know where she'd gotten them from. The bag simply appeared. The ninja skills possessed by the Wayne family never ceased to amaze and slightly worry me.

Cass growled, "Shut it." She was standing on a stool in the middle of Sel's living room, getting measured for her gown.

"Yeah, you don't have to go to this thing," I added, finally freed from the assistant's grasp so I could put my clothes back on. "Lucky."

"I'm not a Wayne," Steph grinned, shoving more marshmallows in her mouth. "An' 'sidsh, 'm shpendin' it wi' my mom," she added, from around the mallows.

"Sunshine, it's a bad sign when I understood what you just said, even with all that in your mouth," Sel sighed. Steph just grinned. "And you know you could be a Wayne. All you'd have to do is say the word and Bruce would adopt you, over eighteen or not."

Steph smiled, a real one this time. "I know. But I've got Mom. I don't want her to think I'm ashamed of her or something. And if it means I get out of these horrible shows, I'm good to stay a Brown."

Cass and I stuck our tongues out at her in unison. She just laughed. "And besides, I've got my night job. Couldn't get off in time."

I knew that meant she would be patrolling that night, along with Jason, since, as the dead Wayne, he couldn't attend the ball. "You're so lucky," I grumbled.

"You think you could do my job?" she asked, eyebrow quirked in far too much amusement.

"No, but it would have to be better than being stuck in a room with a bunch of rich snobs," I replied.

"But then you'd miss out on dancing with me." My boyfriend was suddenly behind me, slipping his arms around my waist. He pulled me snugly against him, and I melted. It was instantaneous, and completely without thought behind it. Dick just always made me feel completely safe and at ease.

"I suppose that's a fair trade off," I grinned up at him, and he kissed me quickly.

"Hey, Mom, are you done with my girl yet? 'Cause we've got places to be, people to meet, ya know," he asked Sel.

"She was my girl first," was Sel's teasing retort. "And I suppose I can be done with her. We've already got her measured and the style, so I guess I can pick the color. All by myself."

I laughed. "Don't pretend you haven't decided on the color already. I saw the way your eyes lit up on that crimson silk."

"You know me too well. Alright, have fun, you two. Tell Wally hi for me. Now, Shadow, it's your turn." She absently turned her cheek up for a kiss from Dick as she flipped through several designs, looking for just the right dress for Cass.

"Have fun," Steph said, her head upside down as she lounged on the couch, still stuffing marshmallows in her mouth. Cass simply glared at us, letting her displeasure at my leaving early well known. Dick grabbed my coat with a laugh and ruffled her hair. She glared more.

Once in the elevator, Dick pulled me in for a heart-stopping kiss. "I missed you, babe," he whispered, kissing me again.

"I missed you, too. How'd it go in Markovia?"

"Good. We got what we needed. Now, are you ready to meet my best friend?"

"You mean, the one I think you're in love with more than me?" I teased, grinning as he shook his head at me.

"Yes, that one," he sighed. He took my hand as the elevator stopped, letting us out. "My bike's out front. It's only a short ride from here."

"To Star City?" I felt my eyebrows fly up in shock. I knew he'd said we were going to the other coast, but I figured he was taking me in some fancy WE jet or something. Not his motorcycle.

"There might be a shortcut." And that was all he would say, refusing to further explain.

Until he pulled up to a random bridge next to the park. "Are you ready?" Dick asked me.

I couldn't see his face, because of the helmet, but I knew him well enough to know he was grinning in anticipation of my reaction. So, I simply wrapped my arms around him tighter. "Ready and waiting."

Dick's laugh echoed through the empty park, and he drove straight for the bridge. I swallowed the scream that really wanted to come out, knowing he would never do anything that would purposefully harm me, and squeezed my eyes shut. I felt a faint buzz, almost like a slight static shock, but I still refused to look. As Dick slowed the bike to a stop, an electronic voice saying "Nightwing, B01, Genevieve Thornton, G04," was the only thing that got me to open them again.

To the sight of a completely different city. And, from the amount of light still around us, a completely different time zone. "How?"

I could still picture Dick's far too amused grin. "Zeta tubes. And I may or may not have hacked the Justice League to add you into the protocols."

"Only you could get away with saying something like 'hacked into the Justice League' so casually," I laughed, cuddling back against him.

"It's because I'm so adorable," he replied, maneuvering out of the alley and onto the street with ease.

Dick drove us to a quieter neighborhood, to a cute little house. As we walked up to the door, I had a thought. "How do they afford a house? Don't tell me Wally's the ward of a billionaire, too."

"Arty, actually," he grinned down at me. "Oliver Queen's… well, not her guardian, but a mentor, of sorts."

"Of course, he is," I laughed, shaking my head.

The door opened before we even got to the porch. "Dick! You're finally here!" And then a blur came flying towards us, wrapping itself around my boyfriend.

The blur turned out to be a tall ginger, practically vibrating with excitement. Actually, he was vibrating. I was glad Dick had already shared with me the retired alter egos of those we were visiting, because I would have been really weirded out otherwise.

"You've totally ignored Genevieve, Wally," a gorgeous blonde said from the doorway. I was instantly a tiny bit jealous, because she also had gloriously olive-toned skin, making my pasty Gotham skin pale in comparison.

"But I haven't seen Dick in forever," he whined as he hugged Dick harder, pulling a laugh from all of us.

"You'll have to excuse the bromance over there," she told me, though the amusement shining in her eyes told me she wasn't nearly as annoyed as she sounded. "I'm Artemis. It's nice to meet you."

"Genevieve," I replied, grinning at her. "And I've been hearing about you and Wally for as long as I've known Dick, so I was a bit prepared for the love fest."

She laughed, an interested look crossing her face. "I think I like you already," she proclaimed. "And we might as well go inside. Those two could be hours yet, and it's getting cold."

"This is cold?" I teased. "This is practically summer temperature in Gotham."

"I know, but I've gotten used to the weather here, even if I did grow up in Gotham. And I have to say, the West Coast agrees with me far better than the East."


	15. Chapter 15

That night was a blast. Artemis and Wally had made a veritable feast of fantastic Vietnamese foods, most of which I couldn't pronounce but definitely enjoyed. And then they took us to a fun bar, where Wally and Dick promptly challenged each other to see who could make the crazier trick shots at darts. Artemis and I wisely stayed out of it, only partly because I had terrible aim. Mostly because she would have schooled them both. But we watched the boys and laughed at them, getting to know each other while we drank.

"Dick needed this," I sighed, loving how relaxed my boyfriend looked. "He's been a little stressed lately, with that Markovia business, and seeing you guys definitely helped."

"Wally's missed him horribly," Artemis replied softly. "We both decided to… retire from our extracurricular activities entirely, but it's been a bit hard on Wally. Seeing so many people in our lives still doing that, he misses it sometimes. But… I don't know what Dick's told you about how Wally almost died?"

"He doesn't like to talk about it, but he's told me some," I answered.

She laughed without humor. "It's definitely not fun to talk about. But yeah, he almost died, and that's… affected him," she said significantly, and I read between the lines. His powers had been affected. "Ever since then, it comes and goes. He's not always able to control it like he used to. Though his metabolism hasn't been affected at all," she laughed, watching the guy in question throw back another beer, before trying to hit the dart board with both eyes closed. He got remarkably close, to the board, not the bullseye. Dick crowed and marked one more point on his side, making it nine to six.

"Can I get one of you pretty ladies a drink?" A guy on my left shoved into our conversation, nearly upsetting my current beer in the process.

"I've already got one, thanks," I said, transferring my drink to my other hand in hopes that it would be safer there.

"Me, too," Artemis said, lifting her own drink in acknowledgement.

"So, we're good, thanks," I added, hoping he would get the hint.

He didn't. And neither did his friend, sidling up to Artemis's other side. "Now, two such pretty ladies shouldn't have to be on their own," the friend said, a greasy smile painting his face.

"As you can see, we're not alone. We're here together," Artemis said, far less pleasantly than before.

"And our boyfriends are right over there," I said, pointing to the boys, who kept looking in our direction in concern. I flashed Dick a smile, and he grinned back, blowing me a kiss.

"You're with the twink?" my new friend scoffed, causing me to choke on my spit.

"Um, as I'm with him, he's definitely not a twink," I laughed. Artemis laughed next to me, too.

"Yeah, and he could bench press you, so you guys can just skedaddle," she said, making a shooing motion.

Both guys were about the size of me and Artemis combined, and neither were convinced of Dick's capabilities. I could read that easily from their scoffs and rolled eyes. But I was tired of them interrupting what had been up to that point a very pleasant evening. "You know what, even if I wasn't dating him, we both said no, rather politely at that. So, go bother someone else, okay?"

"Before I ban you for another month." The bartender suddenly broke into the conversation, a very unimpressed eyebrow raised at the two of them.

There was some grumbling, but both guys soon left the bar entirely, probably to get out from under that rather intimidating glare. "Thanks," I told her with a grin. "We could have handled it, but not nearly that easily."

She laughed. "Artemis and Wally are some of our best customers, so I've got her back, and yours, too, since you're with her. And besides, I've seen Artemis handle creepers before, and I'd rather not have to clean up after that."

Artemis grinned sheepishly. "We paid for it, and helped clean it up."

"Which is why you're still welcome here, sugar," she said with a wink. "Your next drinks are on the house, for having to deal with those losers."

She slid us a beer each, then headed to the other side of the bar. "I see why you guys like this place so much," I told Artemis, grinning. "She's almost worth having to deal with creepers."

"And the creepers aren't here terribly often. Part of the reason why I like it here so much."

Dick's hands on my waist cut off any response I had planned on making. He turned me around on the stool, slipping between my legs to pull me closer. "You okay, babe?" he whispered, kissing my jaw just the way he knew I liked.

I melted against him, his nearness and the alcohol turning me into a puddle. "Yeah, we took care of it," I breathed, squeaking a bit when he tugged on my earlobe with his teeth.

"You sure?" He leaned back a bit to look at my face, scanning it for any lingering discomfort.

I smiled up at him, feeling all warm and mushy inside. "Yeah, we handled it. Apparently, Artemis is BFFs with the bartender, so she helped, too. But even if she hadn't, I would have pulled out some moves that would have been rather effective."

"Oh yeah? And what moves are those?" he asked, laughing since he knew I wasn't anywhere near good at self-defense. We'd been working on it, but somehow our sessions usually devolved into making out on the mat in the manor.

"Screaming really loudly and smashing him in the face with a beer bottle generally does the trick," I grinned. "I learned pretty quickly working at The Iceberg."

"I love you," he laughed, kissing me deeply. Then, more seriously, he said it again. "I love you, Viv."

"I love you, too, Dickie." And the look on his face when I said it made my whole day.


	16. Chapter 16

Selina kept me busy enough leading up to Christmas Eve that I (for the most part) didn't have time to worry about it. There were donations to be collected and delivered, which meant rich people to guilt into helping those less fortunate. Presents needed to be bought, and then wrapped, especially after I found out that Selina couldn't wrap a present to save her life. And there were bonuses to be given to the hardworking people at the Wayne Foundation, which honestly was my favorite part.

But soon enough, I found myself in Selina's bathroom, smearing on a face mask while we sang along to the Spice Girls. Cass and Steph hung out with us, even though Steph wasn't going to the ball. And Cass was only slightly grumpy when Selina came her way, armed with mascara and eyeshadow palettes. And by the time the Wayne men arrived at the penthouse, the three of us were dressed to kill. Well, four, counting Steph, but she was pulling on her Batgirl suit, and she always looked dressed to kill in it. It was part of how she struck fear into the hearts of the bad guys, after all. (Her words, not mine.)

All four of the Wayne boys attending gave us girls very nice compliments, though Damien only did so grudgingly after Tim punched him in the shoulder. Dick was very attentive to his future stepmother and little sister, but the way his eyes kept straying to me was incredibly flattering. And then the way he slipped his arm around my waist, pulling me close, eyes blazing with heat, told me more than words ever could (though he used quite a few of those, too!) just how good I looked. Selina really did know how to pick a dress for me, after all.

The seven of us piled into the limo, driven by Alfred, of course. ("As if I could possibly let someone else drive you lot! And besides, I already have to be there to supervise the help.") He took us to Gotham's Museums, where the gala would be held. The main party would be held in the giant atrium, but all three branches (Antiquities, Art, and Natural History) would be open to the attendees. And Dick had promised me that we would get lost in the Art section, just as soon as it was somewhat acceptable to leave everyone else behind.

There was some bustling around with last minute details, under Alfred's command, but once Bruce and Selina stood up in front of everyone to officially open the ball, there was nothing left for me to do but look pretty on Dick's arm. And not insult anyone, to their faces, at least.

Bruce cracked some jokes and thanked everyone in a charming and witty way that seriously had me admiring his acting skills. The engaging and slightly airheaded man on display was nothing like the man I saw on a near-daily basis. Well, nothing besides his obvious love for Selina and our city. But I guessed that was how he kept his alter-ego a secret.

As it was, in fact, a ball, Bruce led Selina to the dance floor to open the evening. Everyone watched the elegant couple, in awe of the way they practically floated around the room.

"May I have this dance?" Dick's soft whisper in my ear broke my admiring reverie. I turned to see him grinning at me, and looking stupidly attractive while doing it.

"Of course," I whispered back, grinning just as goofily. After all, nothing said "He's with me" like helping to open the Wayne family ball, though the fact that his bow tie and pocket square were made from the same fabric as my dress helped, too. But I'd seen the admiring looks nearly every woman in the room was giving him, and I wasn't dumb. I knew that given half a chance, they'd be slobbering all over him like Damian's dog, Titus, always did whenever he got a bone. And I wasn't going to give any of them even a quarter of a chance.

I saw Tim lead Cass to the dance floor out of the corner of my eye. The mildly murderous look on Cass's face made me giggle, as did the resigned, slightly dead look on Tim's. But, as Dick swung me past them, all but carrying me effortlessly, Tim's look shifted to politely interested, which was his "I'm in public and can't cackle maniacally" mode. A minute later, Tim and Cass descended upon Damian, who'd been smirking with far too much self-satisfaction up to this point. And then, they dragged the tiny pre-teen onto the dance floor, forming an odd group of three where they each tried to lead. And Damian was still scowling, though far less than he would have had we been in private.

"Damian's going to pay them both back at some point tonight," Dick laughed softly in my ear. "Keep an eye out. It'll be good."

"And Bruce will have that disappointed look on his face," I added, loving the feeling that came with knowing them so well, from being included in the family. "But he'll secretly love it."

"And Selina will be publicly loving every minute of it."

Once the song ended, Dick led me off the dance floor as nearly everyone else rushed to it. Several people stopped us on our way, and he was polite and charming, making every person feel special, in that seemingly effortless way he had. I mostly tried to remember to smile and not roll my eyes. And keep my snarky comments to myself.

But soon enough, we made it to the gorgeously arrayed buffet tables. We both made ourselves a plate, and Dick swiped a bottle of champagne, and we slipped away from the crowd. We headed directly to the Art branch, laughing and eating and drinking, all while gazing at some of the most famous works of art in the world. We skimmed through the classical section, imitating some of the more ridiculous poses of the statues. I even got a picture of Dick as the Thinker, basically squatting in a tux. We completely skipped the Surrealists and Cubists, not really my scene. And then Dick pulled me into the place that I decided I could live the rest of my life and be completely happy.

"It's called Martha's Garden," he said quietly. "Bruce's mom wanted to bring more flowers to Gotham, and knowing that they usually don't grow very well or very long here in the city, she decided to collect as many pictures of flowers as possible. So, this is the largest collection of flower works of art in the entire world."

I heard what he said, but I was so in awe of the gorgeous array around me that I couldn't respond. There were flowers everywhere, sketched, painted, sculpted, even real ones dipped in metal. Monet's The Water Lily Pond was there in all it's grand beauty, and next to it were tiny forget-me-nots, pressed between two panes of glass. It was the most beautiful room I had ever been in, and I never wanted to leave.

Looking back, I never could tell just how long we stayed in the garden room. I was so entranced that I sort of lost all sense of time and even reality while enjoying the lush gorgeousness around me. It was almost as if someone had put a spell on me, but it was simply the allure of the beautiful blooms. Until Dick's phone rang, that is, knocking me back to real life.

Knowing Dick, I'd figured he would have put his phone on silent for the night, so if it was ringing, that was a bad sign. After pulling it out of his pocket, he grimaced when he saw who it was. "Babs," he told me, before answering it and putting it on speaker, wrapping his empty arm around me at the same time.

"Dick, are you with everyone else?" Barbara's voice came through rather clearly, and it was filled with panic. Something that really helped with the anxiety rocketing through me.

"No, Gen and I are in the Garden room. Why?"

"You need to get back to the others," she ordered sternly. "Jared Burns just broke out of prison today, and you can guess where he's headed."

"Burns? Isn't he the one-"

Barbara cut me off. "Yeah, he's the one who crashed the New Leash on Life benefit. The one you pissed off, Gen. From all reports, he's still pissed, at you, Bruce, Selina, anyone in Gotham with more than five dollars to their name. So you need to get back with the others before he hits."

"How did he get out?" Dick asked, pulling me toward the exit of the huge Garden room.

"He had two fake teeth, hollowed out."

"Cyanide?" I asked, feeling a bit bewildered. "Isn't that a little old-school? And lethal?"

"Yeah, except they were filled with explosives. Well, one with explosives and the other with the triggering mechanism. I don't know how they got it so small, but it would be genius if it weren't so horrible."

Dick shook his head, clearly already in Nightwing mode. "Do the others know?"

Others meaning Jason and Steph, I assumed. "Yeah, they're on their way, but Burns had a head start. Keep an eye out, and be safe, both of you."

"Touching sentiments, but I think a bit misplaced," a mocking voice said, from just outside the room. Dick jerked me back behind him as the creep du jour walked through the doorway, grinning rather maniacally at us, though his arm holding the gun at us was terribly steady. "Just the two people I wanted to see."


	17. Chapter 17

Dick was in front of me, putting himself between me and el creepo before I could blink. "What do you want, Burns?" he asked, pushing closer to the guy, and incidentally, closer to the gun in the creep's hand. Not something I liked, so I tried tugging him back, though he didn't budge an inch.

"I want to rid Gotham of a plague," he said, cruel smile lighting up his face. And highlighting the madness in his eyes. "A plague of the wealthy elite who care for nothing but themselves. Those who prey upon the weak, the poor, the pathetic. Only when they are gone can Gotham truly flourish as she should."

I managed to hold back any sarcastic comments, but only by literally biting my tongue. The quick look Dick shot my way told me he was expecting something, as well, but I'd learned my lesson. Especially since I knew any help was still a ways out. No Red Hood to the snarky rescue just yet.

"I'm not sure that killing the top donors to Gotham charities is going to fix what you see as broken," Dick said, getting closer to the crazy man. And ratcheting up my heart rate.

"Where do you think that money will go, once you're all gone?" Burns spat in his fanaticism, not even noticing the spray that covered Dick's chest. I hadn't noticed how short he was in our previous encounter, but now, that's all my mind focused on. Possibly to avoid thinking about the rather large gun he had. "All the money hoarded by the wealthy in the city will be free to go to the people, those who truly deserve it. We'll be free from our oppressors, free to live in the plenty kept from us."

"Dude, do you know anything about economics? Or inheritance laws, wills, that sort of thing? Or real life?"

This was said just before Batgirl swung down from the ceiling, forty feet above us, to knock into him. Dick sprang into action as soon as he heard her voice, snatching at the huge gun in Burns's hand. But a vine tendril got there first, ripping the gun from his hands. "Honestly, men ruin everything," Poison Ivy sighed, as several other tendrils wrapped themselves happily around Burns, including one over his mouth. "I mean, you're in the most beautiful room in the world, and you try to kill people. You could have at least admired the view first."

"It is absolutely gorgeous," I agreed without thinking. Now that the danger was over, it seemed like my brain-to-mouth filter had turned off again.

But Ivy seemed not to mind. "I like you. You've got good taste, at least. And Dickie, good job bringing a girl here. Smooth, or it would have been, had the wannabe supervillain not interrupted. I approve."

"Thanks," he laughed, pulling me closer. "But I think we're done in here for tonight. Are all of his goons taken care of?"

"Harley, Batman, and Hood are rounding them up as we speak," Ivy said. She watched as Batgirl bundled the vine-wrapped Burns onto her shoulder, so she didn't notice my flinch at her mention of Batman. Dick did, since I sort of jabbed him in the ribs while doing it, and he sent me an assuring nod. He'd explain later, which was good, because I wasn't sure just how much Ivy knew, and I definitely didn't want to be the one who spilled the beans.

"You guys should probably rejoin the party," Batgirl told us. "Who knows who else might decide tonight would be a good night to make a splash?"

We did as suggested, meeting up with Bruce and Selina right as we reentered the atrium. "How's your evening been?" Sel asked us nonchalantly, looking for all the world like she was asking nothing more important than if we were enjoying the ball. If you missed the well-concealed worried look in her eyes.

"We enjoyed the Garden," Dick told her warmly. "A few people joined us, so we decided it was probably time to come back in here." To anyone else, it sounded innocuous, but both Bruce and Selina relaxed minutely, clearly getting his hidden message.

"Yes, we did miss you," Bruce said, grinning at Dick, his public mask firmly secure. "I hope you liked the Garden, though, Gen. It was my mother's pet project, and Selina's added quite a bit to it, as well. Something the women in my life seem to enjoy working on."

"It's breathtaking, Bruce, I loved it. I can't believe I've never been here before now," I gushed a bit.

"We'll have to come back again, ya know, when there's a few less people around," Dick suggested, pressing a kiss to my temple.

The rest of the night passed uneventfully, with none of the guests even knowing there had been an attack. We managed to raise more money than we had expected. And only three women tried to hit on Dick, in front of my face, and I even was able to not strangle any of them. All in all, a successful night.

It wasn't until we made it back to the manor for the night that I had the chance to ask the question that had been on my mind all night. "You didn't sneak away and do a little Batman-ing tonight, did you, Bruce?"

The fact that I made Bruce Wayne, a.k.a. Batman, smile, even just a little, was huge. But he quirked up one side of his mouth at my use of "Batman-ing", which was like a Christmas present in itself. "No, I didn't. That was Martian Manhunter. He agreed to help patrol Gotham tonight in my place."

That blew my mind. "Do you guys do that often?"

"Only when absolutely necessary," Bruce told me.

Sel added with a grin, "Dick's been Batman a few times. I've been Nightwing before. We sub for each other when we need to avoid scrutiny."

The thought of my best friend dressing up as my boyfriend was a bit odd, to say the least. Turning to my boyfriend, I asked, "Am I ever going to learn all your secrets?"

While his brothers laughed in the background, Dick kissed me. "It's not like I meant to keep it a secret from you, baby. I just didn't think to tell you."

As was apparently tradition, all of us under the Wayne roof that night, with the exceptions of Alfred, Bruce, and Selina, slept in the theater room. "So no one can try to catch Santa in the act," Dick explained cheerfully, as he pulled me closer to him and spread the blanket out over both of us.

"Ttt, Santa doesn't exist, Grayson," Damian huffed. He was still unhappy that Jason had threatened to stuff his turkey for Christmas dinner the next day if he tried to keep it in the theater room with us while we slept.

"Sounds like someone's not getting anything from Santa this year," Tim replied, then barely ducked the pillow Damian had chucked at his head.

Jason laughed a short little huff. "Santa wouldn't come here. He only comes for good kids, and there aren't any of those here."

"Gen and Cass are angels," Steph argued, surprising all of us with her arrival in her bright purple pajamas. But the angry look on her face discouraged all of us from asking what had caused her to spend the night there instead of with her mom.

"Aw, thanks," I laughed. "And Alfred's a freaking saint, so he deserves all the presents."

A chorus of "Yeah"s answered me, then everyone finished settling in for the night. "Merry Christmas, everyone," Dick said sleepily, with his face tucked in my neck. "Sleep good."

…

Christmas morning at Wayne Manor was a completely foreign experience for me. Presents were flying around the room, with everyone digging into their own pile. Alfred kept us all stocked with delicious cinnamon rolls, straight from the oven, and his special hot cocoa, even while opening his own presents. And Jason kept chucking Bruce's presents at him, without any warning. "It's to help him keep his reflexes sharp," he smirked.

Everyone seemed to love what I'd gotten for them. Well, except Damian. For some reason, his Robin onesie pajamas seemed to fall short of his approval, though the gormet all-organic dog treats for Titus seemed to cool his ire a bit. But I had found the most outrageous merchandise for each one's super alter ego: Batgirl and Black Bat bikinis for Steph and Cass, Red Robin boxers for Tim, an apron that made you look like Red Hood, painted on abs and all, for Jason, and a Nightwing hoodie that I was already planning on stealing back from Dick. I'd managed to find shirts for both Sel and Bruce. Hers proclaimed her to be a crazy cat lady in large blingy letters, while his said "I'm not saying I'm Batman, I'm just saying you've never seen me and Batman in the same room". And Alfred got an expensive bottle of wine and a gift certificate to a spa. "I mean, you deserve it for dealing with this all the time," I told him, gesturing to where Tim and Jason were modelling my gifts, over their pajamas.

"Thank you, Miss Gen," he said gravely, though his twinkling eyes belied that.

I received so many clothes, along with some perfume from Dick and fun lipstick that changed colors according to your pH from Steph. But Bruce and Selina's gift to me blew everyone else's out of the water. Just when we were all about done unwrapping gifts, Sel handed me a small box. "This one's from both of us," she told me, grinning happily while clinging to Bruce's hand, almost like she couldn't contain her giddiness otherwise.

"Okay," I said, untying the bow holding the box closed. When I pulled the lid off, my jaw dropped. "You bought me a car?" My voice squeaked through several extra decibels as I pulled out a set of car keys.

"You need something to get around town in," Bruce told me, like it was no big deal. Which, to be honest, to him, it wasn't. To me, it was huge.

"Something to get around town in would be like a used Honda," I argued. "You got me a freaking Porsche."

"Do you want us to take it back?" Sel teased.

I clutched the keys to my chest. "Nope. I'm good," I replied quickly. "But seriously, thank you, so, so much."

"I'm glad you like it," Bruce replied, smiling again. "Even without seeing it."

"It's a Porsche, Bruce. I don't need to see it."

"Merry Christmas, Precious," Sel told me, laughing happily. "Welcome to the family."


	18. Chapter 18

As chaotic as Christmas morning had been at Wayne Manor, the rest of the day was incredibly chill. Even Bruce and Selina stayed in their pajamas for most of the day, though Sel still managed to look utterly chic in her emerald satin top and bottoms. As for me, I probably looked like I was around Damian's age, given my height and the fact that I had stolen Dick's new hoodie, which swallowed me and hung almost to my knees. And combined with my glasses instead of my usual contacts and my hair in a ratty bun on top of my head, I looked about twelve, maybe thirteen, if one was being generous.

But Alfred wouldn't let us stay so casual for the entire day. "Christmas dinner is a formal affair, Master Jason," he reminded when Jason whined about getting dressed. I had the feeling it was a conversation that took place every year, but it had the desired effect. All of us trooped upstairs to get ready. I think it also might have been to get us all out of the way and to avoid any "assistance" from Dick, Jason, and Tim, which really amounted to the three of them trying to see just how much food they could snag without Alfred noticing. None of them had succeeded at getting anything.

Just as Dick was zipping up my dress, taking far too long to do so since he kept kissing my back instead of pulling on the zipper, the doorbell rang, sounding throughout the house. "The Kents are here," he said cheerfully, finally finishing his task, not that I had minded the attention.

I slipped into my shoes, happy to be a bit closer to his height, and we left his room, making it to the top of the stairs just in time to see a tragedy in the making. A boy, somewhere around Damian's age, squealed a loud "Damian!" and literally flew at the other boy, tackling the tiny Wayne in a hug.

"That child is going to be murdered," I gasped, knowing just how much Damian would avoid any and all physical contact that wasn't fighting.

"Nah, Jon's his best friend," Dick laughed, completely unconcerned. And he proved to be right, since Damian, with a very noticeable huff, lifted his arm to pat the other boy's back.

"It's good to see you, too, Kent," Damian told the other boy, and I almost missed the last stair at the lack of animosity, or at least annoyance, in his voice.

"Aw, wittle Dami's fwiend is hewe," Jason cooed as he popped into the entryway, mussing his little brother's hair with a cackle, since Damian couldn't dodge with the other kid still hanging on him.

"I can and will kill you, Todd," was Damian's glared reply.

"Not on Christmas, Master Damian," Alfred chided, finishing hanging the coats for the newcomers. "Ah, there you are, Master Richard, Miss Genevieve. The Kents have arrived, and Mrs. Kent has expressed her desire to meet you, Miss Genevieve."

"Me?" I squeaked. I knew that the Kents were friends with Bruce and Sel, but I had no idea why she would want to meet me in particular.

"Selina has told me so much about you that I feel like I already know you," a new voice said. I looked to see Sel and Bruce enter from Bruce's office with another couple, and I recognized her with a gasp.

"Oh my- You're Lois Lane! Holy crap, you're awesome! You're the best reporter in the country! I didn't realize you're who Sel's been talking about!" I gushed, rushing right up to her to shake her hand enthusiastically. I sadly only managed to gain control of my mouth when I heard Jason snorting a laugh.

Lois grinned and elbowed her husband. "See, I told you I'm the better reporter."

Which, of course, made me grimace. "I mean, you're really great, too, Mr. Ke-"

But he cut me off with a laugh and a handshake. A very firm handshake. It completed his giant persona. He was even bigger than Bruce or Jason, and that was more than a bit intimidating. "Oh, no, Lois is definitely the better reporter. And you can call me Clark, Genevieve."

"I think I'm going to like you, Genevieve," Lois said, still grinning widely.

"It's hard not to," Sel warned, also grinning.

Dick joined in with "I think so, too," as he stepped up to hug both Lois and Clark.

"Hi, I'm Jonathan Kent," the little boy said, popping up in front of me with a friendly, eager smile that was missing a tooth. "But you can call me Jon, everyone else does."

I couldn't help but smile in return. "Nice to meet you, Jon. I'm Genevieve Thornton, but you can call me Gen."

I hadn't thought it possible, but Jon lit up even more. "Hi, Gen! Damian's told me lots and lots about you! He said you took him for ice cream after he got in that-"

A small hand slapped over his mouth. "You said you wouldn't say anything about that," Damian hissed, attempting to pull his friend away from me.

Who looked at him just like a kicked puppy, who couldn't possibly fathom why it had been kicked. "But she already knows about it? She's the one who took you?"

"But not everyone else knew, Kent," Damian sighed, looking for all the world like he wanted the earth to swallow him whole.

"Oh," Jon said smally.

"What're they talking about, Viv?" Dick asked me, looking super confused, too.

"That's between me and Damian," I replied with a grin. "And apparently, Jon, too."

Both boys seemed to like that, or, well, Damian seemed mollified, at least. Jason and Tim, who'd joined us by that time, tried to tease it out of Damian, Jon, and me, but we all held firm. "It's for us to know and you to never find out," I joked, possibly winning myself a few more brownie points from the half-pints. Though, I really shouldn't call them that, since Damian was only a few inches shorter than me, and Jon would have been eye-level, had I not been wearing four-inch heels.

The rest of the evening, Jon alternated between hanging out with Damian and following me around like a puppy. A giant puppy, who could apparently fly, as I discovered when he and Damian exchanged Christmas gifts. "You got me a signed Babe Ruth bat?!" he squealed, rising a few inches off the floor before tackling his friend with a hug again. Damian bore it with another sigh, once more patting Jon on the back twice before attempting to pull away. It didn't work.

It didn't take me overhearing a mumbled threat of Kryptonite for me to put the pieces together. "He's Superboy," I whispered to Dick. It wasn't a question. He nodded in smug confirmation, anyway. "And Clark is Superman. That explains why he looks like he could bench press this house without breaking a sweat."

"As a civilian, Thornton really shouldn't know all of our alter-egos," Damian butted in, literally popping in between me and Dick.

"Dude, your friend's the one who gave it away, little man," Jason laughed from across the room. "He's the one flying around civilians."

Damian huffed and Jon pouted. "I didn't mean to-" he started, but his dad cut him off.

"I think it's okay for this civilian to know," Clark- Superman- said with a grin. "After all, if she hasn't spilled y'all's identities by now, I think we Kents are safe."

"She's not going to say anything, Damian. She's family," Bruce added.

You would think that having Superman vouch for you would be the highlight of your day, or at least your evening. But somehow, having Batman there backing me was even better. I mean, Superman tended to think the best of everyone, from what I'd heard. And Batman? He didn't trust many people, so his trust made me about glow from the inside out.


	19. Chapter 19

New Year's Eve passed without a lot of fanfare, since everyone was on patrol. They'd learned from years past that it was never a good idea for any of them to take time off on that night, though Dick did manage to stop by just in time to give me a New Year's kiss. One that about melted my knees. And when he came home for the night hours later, we had our own celebration, with champagne and everything.

But I woke up far too early the next morning to Steph crawling into bed next to me, sniffling in a vain attempt to keep the tears at bay. "What's wrong?" Dick asked, far more awake than I was, like he was used to his siblings showing up randomly and climbing into his bed. Which, to be fair, he was, as he'd warned me before I'd started spending the night at his apartment. It was all part of being a big brother, I supposed.

Steph mumbled something against my shoulder that she'd plastered herself onto. I only caught "mom" and "again", and Dick didn't seem to understand it any better than I did, so I hugged her close, pulled Dick back to spooning me again, and went back to sleep. After all, Steph would talk when she was ready. And I was sleepy.

Several hours later, Dick made us all a huge breakfast, one almost worthy of Alfred. He and I ate, though Steph simply pushed her eggs around and continued looking utterly miserable. "Okay, hon, it's time," I said, since I couldn't take her sad puppy face anymore. "What's wrong?"

Steph sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. "My mom's using again," she said, eyes still closed, as if she could possibly keep the world out if she couldn't see it. "I caught her on Christmas Eve, and I… I just don't know what to do. She won't go to rehab, even though Bruce has offered to pay, multiple times. We've been fighting about it ever since, and I just… can't. I can't stay there knowing what she's doing to herself."

There wasn't really anything we could say that would make it better, so I simply stood up and hugged her, letting her cry on my shoulder. Dick looked a bit panicked, since he couldn't punch out drugs, and he definitely couldn't punch out Steph's mom. I knew him, knew how much he wanted to take care of Steph, but there wasn't really anything he could do, so I waved him over, to which he happily complied. He wrapped his arms around both of us, gently rocking us and smoothing Steph's hair.

Eventually, it was decided that Steph would hang out with me at work all day, since we all knew Sel wouldn't care. She sat in a chair in the corner of my office, playing on her phone and morosely eating marshmallows, until Sel sent us home around three-thirty. "Go home, get some Ben and Jerry's, and watch some chick flicks," Sel ordered.

We stopped by Steph's apartment, since her mom was at work, and packed everything she wanted to take with. It amounted to a duffel bag, a suitcase, and three boxes, all of which fit into the trunk of my (brand new!) car. And then we headed to my apartment, since Dick didn't have nearly the selection of chick flicks I did. Movies were really the only thing left in my apartment, since I spent the night at Dick's more often than not, with the manor in second place, and Sel's penthouse rounding out the top three. My apartment was a far distant fourth, not really worth what I spent in rent on it.

It was just as I was pulling into the thirty-minute parking in front of my crappy building that I caught a glimpse of another car. A utility van wasn't super out of place in my neighborhood, but given that I'd seen one just like it when I'd pulled out of the underground parking at the Wayne Foundation nudged my attention. I turned the car off and just waited for a moment, keeping an eye on the van, but when it kept going down the block, I released the breath I was holding.

"You saw it, too?" Steph asked tightly. I turned to see her, still watching the van. "I didn't get a look at the license plate the first time, so I'm not sure if it's the same one, but I think we're okay."

"All the same, let's grab those movies and get back to Dick's, okay?" I suggested, grabbing my purse and making a break for the building, Steph hot on my heels.

In the end, I grabbed all of my movies and the last few possessions I still had at the apartment. I wasn't sure why, but something told me that I wouldn't be seeing it again, and I wasn't terribly saddened by the thought. I hadn't even been there a year, and I rarely had any interaction with my roommates. And I would feel better keeping any and all Waynes out of Wendy's grasping hands. No telling what she might do to get a sugar daddy. Or mama. I didn't think she was terribly picky.

While I was collecting my things, Steph kept an eye on the street outside. After the third time the van circled the block, she called Bruce. "Someone's waiting for us outside of Gen's apartment."

I couldn't hear his side of the conversation, but there were a lot of "Yeah"s and "Uh-huh"s on her end. With a hard look at me, she nodded, then ended the call. "Okay, here the deal," she told me. "We're leaving everything here. If it's not in your pocket, it's staying here. We're heading downstairs, and we'll make a break for your car once the van passes again. Jason's on his way here, but we're not waiting, in case these guys get antsy. We're getting in your car and you're going to floor it back to the manor. Got it?"

I nodded, heart pounding all of a sudden. "Yeah, I got it." I nodded again, trying to ignore the sudden shaking in my hands.

"We got this, Gen," Steph told me, more serious than I'd ever seen her about anything other than her mom. "We got this. I'm not letting anything happen to you, okay?"

That got me. I wasn't about to be a liability, expecting her to protect me at the expense of herself. "Yeah, I'm great," I said, shaking out my hands. "We got this. We're gonna be okay."

Steph grinned a bit ferally. "We got this."

We made it downstairs, waiting for the van to pass once again, before taking off running. Steph and I were halfway between my building and my car when she inhaled sharply. "Get to the car, Gen," she ordered, pushing my back. "Now."

I saw the van jerking to a stop and then reversing back toward us just as I stumbled forward, nearly tripping over my own feet, because I'm awesome that way. Steph grabbed me and hauled me up, all but chucking me towards the driver side of my car. My right hand grasped the handle, but someone else's hand closed around my upper left arm at the same time, pulling me around.

It was pure blind panic, but I somehow found myself swinging with the momentum and raising my right arm as I went. My fist connected with an eye socket, and under the chunky ring that had been in my stocking, I felt something pop.

The man, a shorter Middle Eastern man in a suit, dropped, clutching his eye, and I didn't waste a second to get into the car. As soon as I had the door closed, I was hitting the lock button, belatedly realizing that Steph was, thankfully, in the car already. My beautiful car started with a roar, and I peeled out of the parking space.

Gunshots sounded. I flinched, jerking the wheel and narrowly missing colliding with the van. "Quit shooting my beautiful car! What in the name of everything holy is going on?" I screamed, crouching so low in my seat I could barely see over the dashboard. Though that really wasn't much lower than normal, since I am quite short. I took as many sharp turns as I could, trying to lose them.

"They're after you, Gen," Steph shouted back, ripping her phone out of her pocket. "You didn't hear them say to leave the blonde?"

I saw the van T-bone into a car that had pulled out of an alley, and sighed a bit. "No, I was a bit busy bursting that guy's eyeball!" I replied, then comprehended what I'd just said. And done. "Oh, my holy- I burst that guy's eyeball! I blinded him!"

"I'm a little more worried about what he was planning on doing to you!" she yelled. "Bruce, they tried to grab Gen!" she then hollered into her phone. "Yeah, right in front of her apartment!"

A few muffled statements from Bruce later, and I felt the car moving against my guidance. "Relax, Miss Genevieve," came Alfred's calming tones through the speakers. "I'm controlling the vehicle now, and I'll bring you and Miss Stephanie back to the manor safely."

"I have no idea how you're doing that, but thank you," I breathed.

"You are more than welcome, Miss Genevieve. You'll be safely home soon."

Without the stress of trying to get away, though I did keep looking in the rearview mirror to make sure that familiar van wasn't following us, the adrenaline of the attack abruptly left, leaving me boneless and utterly shaken. "I just burst some guy's eyeball. They wanted to kidnap me. And I think I broke my hand."

Steph lifted my hand in hers, manipulating the bones in it carefully. "No, I don't think so, but you're going to have a wicked bruise from this ring," she said comfortingly.

"That's good," I said, trying to choke back tears.

My phone rang, automatically connecting to the car. "Viv, babe, are you okay?"

Dick's concerned voice broke down every wall I'd been desperately trying to keep up. "No," I cried, feeling the tears start to come.

"Hey, baby, you'll be okay, I promise," he soothed. "I'm on my way to the manor now, and I'll be there when Alfred gets you there. Jay got to the van, he got the guy driving, and the police are already on the scene at your apartment, Commissioner Gordon's sent his best guys. They arrested the guy with… the one…"

"The one Gen clocked in the eye?" Steph interjected with a wry grin on her face. She was clearly trying to distract me from my near hysteria.

"You got him?" Dick's voice took on a much more surprised tone. "You did that to him?"

"It's mostly due to the awesome ring Sel got me for Christmas, but yeah," I replied, sniffing in an attempt to stem the tears. I didn't want to be the wimp who bawled her face off when some rando attacked her. After all, basically every person in my life fought guys like every night with ease.

"I'm impressed, babe. Ring or no, that had to have been one hell of a right hook."

Dick kept up a stream of uplifting nonsense the rest of the drive home. He and Steph bantered, keeping me distracted and even making me laugh once or twice. But the instant my car parked itself in the garage of the manor, he was there, ripping the door open and pulling me into his arms. "I've got you, babe," he whispered. "I've got you, and they're not going to hurt you. I've got you."

And I burst into noisy sobs, bawling on his shoulder like a baby. I shook uncontrollably, though Dick kept me upright for a moment, before sweeping me into his arms. Alfred opened the door into the house for us. "Into the kitchen, if you please, Master Richard," he instructed.

I'm not sure how long Dick held me, sitting on a bar stool in the kitchen while I cried my eyes out. When I finally cried myself out, there was a huge mug of hot cocoa nearly at my elbow, and Sel was sitting next to us, petting my hair in long, comforting strokes. "Hey, Precious, how you feeling?" she asked gently.

"I'm okay," I said, straightening up. "Beyond mortified, but okay. Thanks for the ring, by the way. I'm pretty sure that's what saved me."

"And men say fashion doesn't save lives," she teased dramatically, making me laugh.


	20. Chapter 20

As it turned out, I did have a slight fracture in my hand from punching the guy. The ring, sadly, was also broken, but Sel promised to get it fixed for me. And possibly framed. "After all, this is a very important memento of Gen saving herself," she said, beaming proudly at me, while Alfred continued to wrap my hand. On the plus side of this whole attack, it meant I finally got to see the inside of the Batcave, since there was more medical equipment down there than I'd ever seen before in my life.

Back upstairs, we found police officers waiting for me and Steph. They were waiting for our statements, which meant I got to remember all the finer points of everything. We had to… alter some of the details, like Alfred driving the car remotely, and why we'd called Bruce before the police, and why we'd gone straight to the manor instead of the police station, but other than that, we got it all out and official. The officers ended up with the impression that both Steph and I were more than a little stupid, but if it meant they didn't suspect any alter-egos in play, I was willing to let it go.

"Now, Miss Thornton, why do you think they were after you? You, specifically, I mean," Officer Munoz asked me, a little nicer than his partner had been.

I stared at him, having no real answer. With everything that had happened, I hadn't really thought about it. "I don't know," I said slowly. "I mean, I'm Sel's assistant, so I have access to some sensitive stuff, or maybe 'cause I'm Dick's girlfriend, trying to hurt the Waynes through me? Or a ransom demand, maybe. Really, I don't know."

"Hm," he frowned, then shook his head and headed to the door of the parlor. "Well, we have all three of the shooters in custody. We'll figure it out soon enough, so you don't need to worry about it anymore."

"Don't worry your pretty little head," Steph seethed, after he was out of earshot. "That's really what he meant. Don't worry, and let us big tough men figure it out for you."

"He has no idea what you're capable of, Steph, and you know why it has to be that way," Dick replied, rubbing her back soothingly with one hand, while refusing to let go of me with the other. I was more than okay with that, though.

"Doesn't mean I have to like it," she grumbled, while still allowing him to pull him into a one-armed hug, on his part.

Jason arrived a few minutes later, with news of a sort. "None of the guys are talking, so we don't know yet why they wanted you, Gen, other than your stunning good looks, of course," he said, leering at me, but I knew better than to believe him. Especially since he kept looking at Steph with concern in his eyes when he thought no one was watching.

"Barbara and I ran the license plates from the van," Tim said, coming downstairs with a laptop in his hands. "It's a rental, rented by a shell company of a shell company of a shell company. There's more than fifteen different corporations here, but they all lead back to one Shaitan Enterprises. It's based in Dubai, maybe."

"Who'd you piss off in Dubai, Gen?" Steph asked me with a grin, happy now that Jason had arrived.

"Since I've never left the country, and only very recently Gotham, I have no idea."

"Well, for tonight, you're staying here in the manor," Sel ordered. "Everyone is. Bruce will be back with Damian in just a few minutes, and no one is leaving until morning, except for patrols. And Precious, you're never going back to that apartment again. I refuse to let you stay there without any sort of security."

"I already picked up what you'd packed and dropped it off at Dick's," Jason informed me. "That way you don't have to go back there, bad memories and all. But I've got to say, I saw that guy's face after you punched him, and it's awesome. A job beautifully done."

Dick glared at him for the reminder, but I didn't mind. After all, there was absolutely no way I'd be able to ever forget the feel of that guy's eyeball bursting under my hand, or the terror that had run through me when his hand had wrapped around my arm, so pretending like it hadn't happened wasn't going to do me any good. "Thanks," I told Jay sardonically. "I'm so glad the Red Hood approves of my violence."

He beamed at me. "At least someone gets me!"

That night, Dick really didn't want to leave me to go patrol, but I promised I'd be okay staying with Alfred. Especially since the plan for everyone going out was to try to uncover anything else on my attackers. So, with great reluctance, he suited up with the rest of the family and pressed a long kiss to my lips before heading out of the Batcave on his motorcycle. It was a very attractive sight. I may have sighed.

"We're going to figure out who did this and what they want," Bruce told me gravely, and the fact that he said it from under the Batman cowl just added to the solemnity of the moment. After all, when Batman tells you he's going to find your attackers, it's pretty much a guarantee.

"Thanks," I said softly, nearly ready to crash from the lack of adrenaline. And the ache in my hand.

"Stay here, Precious. Stay safe," Sel added, pressing a kiss to my hair. "I don't want you to break any other bones, okay?"

"Yes, Mom," I replied with a grin. "Now, go keep our city safe."

Once everyone else was out for the night, Alfred offered me the option to hang out with him in the Batcave, keeping an ear on the goings on of the crew, but I declined. I could hardly keep my eyes open, so I ran myself a bath in Dick's bathroom, with far too many bubbles, but it was perfect. Especially since I wouldn't be able to do my usual yoga routine with my hand the way it was, a bath was the next best thing. So, I soaked for more than an hour, with my hand hanging out over the edge, and possibly dosing off a time or two, but when I got out, there was a mug of hot cocoa next to the bed, at just the perfect temperature. "Thanks, Alfred," I texted the guerilla butler. "You really are the best."

"You are quite welcome, Miss Genevieve," came his swift reply. I grinned and downed the hot cocoa before snuggling up in Dick's bed.

But no matter how tired I was, I still couldn't sleep. I tried, and on any other night, Alfred's cocoa was more than enough to put me to sleep, especially since this time it had a shot of rather strong brandy in it, but it didn't work. It didn't help that every time I closed my eyes, I saw that stupid van and heard the sound of bullets hitting my car, or every time I moved my hand, I felt the pop of an eyeball over and over again. And I just couldn't go to sleep.

I was still on alert hours later, so when Dick slipped into the room, I wasn't surprised. "Hey, baby," he said softly, after realizing I was awake. "You okay?"

"Not really, but you already knew that. 'S why you're here, isn't it?" Without much thought, I scooted over so I wasn't in the middle of the bed, giving him room to join me.

He took my unspoken invitation, sliding in next to me and wrapping me in his arms. "You know, it's okay that you're not okay. You don't have to feel like you have to be stoic and have that stiff upper lip about the whole thing. It's okay that you're having a hard time. We've all had issues in the past, so don't think that you can't have a problem with having some guys attack you."

Dick's words sank into my mind, relieving a bit of the pressure I was putting on myself. "Well, I'm glad, because I'm very much not okay," I whispered, cuddling deeper into his embrace.

"And that's okay," he repeated, brushing a kiss to my forehead. "But I'm here, and I love you, and you're safe."


	21. Chapter 21

I wasn't sure when I'd fallen asleep, but I definitely knew when I woke up next. "Jason, where is my boyfriend, and why are you in his bed next to me?" I asked him, without even opening my eyes.

"How the fricketty-frack did you know it was me?" came his indignant squawk.

"You weigh like fifty pounds more than Dick, so you make the bed dip more than he does, and you guys wear different cologne," I replied, rolling away from him.

"Huh, maybe we'll make a detective out of you yet," he laughed. "And to answer your question, he's on the phone with Babs, and I didn't want you to be lonely."

Even through his lascivious tone, I could hear the truth in his words, and it warmed my heart. "Thanks, Jay, but I think I'm good," I told him, stretching a bit.

"You really are precious," Jason cooed. "You're just like a tiny kitten."

"I do have claws," I threatened, but we both knew it was entirely empty. "Did you guys find anything else last night?"

He sighed. "No. Those guys are practically ghosts. They're not in any database, ever, which generally suggests pro hitmen. So you really pissed somebody off," he said, trying to get me to smile.

It worked, a little, but Dick came back before I could retort. "Viv, you're awake!" He crossed the room in little more than a blink, crawling across his brother to reach me, and kneeing Jason in the stomach while he was at it. "Morning, babe," he had time to say, and press a quick kiss to my lips, before Jason threw him off. An impromptu wrestling match broke out. There was no clear victor; it just ended when Dick's head collided with the bed frame, Jason's eyebrow started bleeding, and I said I was lonely. I soon found myself being cuddled on either side by a Wayne boy, and it was surprisingly not weird, even with Jason.

After a few minutes of quiet cuddling, Dick sighed. "I just got off the phone with Babs, and she's got some bad news, Viv."

A frozen ball formed in my stomach. "Okay, hit me with it."

He frowned and cuddled me closer. "All three of your attackers are dead."

And the ball sank further. "Wha- How?"

"Wasn't there security at the hospital?" Jay was quick to ask.

Dick sighed again. "Yeah, which makes it weirder. The cop outside swears the only people who went in that room with Patchy were nurses."

"So, someone snuck in as a nurse," I finished for him.

"Most likely," he nodded.

"And the guys in jail?" Jay prompted.

"It looks like they both hanged themselves, but the commissioner doubts it, since the security cams were tampered with right around the time of death."

The dread from the day before came back with a vengeance, settling into my stomach with alarming familiarity. "So, whoever is behind this is covering their tracks really well."

"But they messed with the wrong family," Jason said, squeezing me closer to him. "We haven't been looking for them for long, so we'll get them."

He said it with the same solemnity that Bruce had the night before, his words just ringing with sincerity, but I'd never tell him that. He usually got along with Bruce, but he definitely wouldn't like being told he was like him. So, instead, I simply nodded. "I trust you guys. You'll get 'em. And now I need to get ready for work."

That brought a stunned silence from both boys, and neither of them moved, even though I pushed to try to get out of the bed. "Selina doesn't expect you to go in today, Viv," Dick finally told me, after I nudged him for the fourth time.

I wasn't getting out that way, so I started to wiggle out of the top of the blankets. It was a bit difficult, since both of them were on top of the covers, but I got some progress made. "I expect me to go in. I'm not letting them scare me into not living my life. That's not going to happen."

Jason laughed and finally rolled off the bed. "And that's why I love you, Gen. Stay feisty."

Dick tried to convince me to stay home, at least for the day, but he finally stopped when I asked him if he would have taken the day off, had he been the one attacked. Instead, he ruefully got us each some (amazing!) coffee to go from Alfred while I got ready. It was a bit awkward, with the splint and everything, but I made it.

I couldn't bend my fingers enough to be able to drive, so Dick drove us both in. "Are you sure you'll be okay?" he asked me in the elevator to Sel's office. For the seventh time that morning.

"I'll be fine. Alfred picked me up some of the good drugs, so I don't even feel anything," I assured. "And Sel will watch me like a hawk, no doubt, so I'll be perfectly fine."

He was a little worried, but I managed to convince him to actually leave. After a very long goodbye kiss. He still texted me throughout the day, and then Sel was just as mother hen-ish in person, but it was kinda nice, even if I did tease them both for it. It just showed that they cared.

Over the next week, my favorite detectives worked hard to uncover just who had killed all three of my attackers. Bruce barely slept, even more than his normal, and Tim drank enough coffee to pay off Columbia's national debt. Jason had it the easiest of everyone, since he didn't have a public face to keep up, but that just meant he was investigating twenty-four-seven in the seedier parts of Gotham. Steph skipped her classes so she could be out on patrol every night. Cass was gone from the manor for four days straight, then she came home and slept for nearly a day, before going out again. And Dick and Sel were worse than everyone else. Dick stopped going in to work, instead spending hours during the day following every possible lead on Shaitan Enterprises, and then every night was spent scouring Gotham's darker side. And Sel was combing through every database Barbara could access to try to find my attackers. She even let her work slide, but I picked up whatever slack I could. It wasn't like I had any skills that could be utilized to find whoever was behind my attack, but I could do my best to take care of those I loved.

And I found little ways to do that. Steph got yelled at, enough to shock her into going back to class, armed with enough of Tim's coffee to keep her awake until she could come back and sleep, at night, like a normal person. And Tim's coffee was swapped with decaf after the third day, and he was too wired to notice the difference until he was falling asleep on top of his laptop. I left him there, but took the computer away and covered him with a blanket. There was no way I could move him, after all. I made sure Jay had plenty of food in his apartment, courtesy of Alfred, and I sent him cat videos throughout the day to make him smile. Cass also got the cat videos, and a hug and a huge thanks for all she was doing. As well as a steady supply of marshmallows. I had no idea what to do for Bruce, until Alfred reminded me that taking care of those he loved was the best thing I could do for him.

Dick and Sel required a bit more planning, and I needed assistance for Sel. But I was able to make it work, for both of them.

I had officially moved in with Dick over that week, so I simply waited for him to come home with the Indian food he promised me for dinner. When he walked into the apartment, my heart ached at how exhausted he looked, even with the way he lit up seeing me. But there was no disguising the dark circles under his eyes, or the slump in his shoulders. And it ate at me, because he was doing this because of me. I knew it wasn't my fault that I was the one targeted, but Dick wouldn't have been pushing himself quite like this if I hadn't been their objective.

"Hey beautiful," he said, dropping the food at the table so he could wrap me in his arms. I clung to him, pressing into him at every possible point of contact. "Mmmm, you feel good," he mumbled into my hair.

We eventually got around to eating, and the food was only mildly room temperature at that point. The meal stretched out longer than normal, with help from both of us. It seemed like Dick couldn't get enough of touching me at every possible moment, just little things like pressing his leg into mine, or tangling his fingers with mine, or playing with my hair. And it was heaven. I hadn't realized just how much I'd missed it the last few days, until I had it again.

But eventually all the food was gone, and Dick reluctantly cleaned up the take out containers. "I should probably get suited up," he said, sounding exactly as excited as he would be for say… a colonoscopy.

"No, you really shouldn't," I told him. I took his hands in mine, squeezing as he looked at me in surprise. "Bruce has already told me you're not going out tonight so you can get some sleep."

"You went behind my back to talk to Bruce?" Dick pulled his hands from mine, still taking care to not hurt me, but I could see he was upset.

"Because we're both worried about you. I get it, you're doing this to try to protect me, but you're going to kill yourself in the process," I said, feeling my heart break, for him, for me, for the whole situation. "I love you, babe, and it's killing me to see you working yourself to death like this. You're exhausted, and I don't think you've slept eight hours total since this started. You can't keep going like this."

He stared at me for a long moment. And then he sighed, and all the fight went out of him. "I'm just worried about you," he said, moving to wrap his arms around me again. "I want to find whoever's responsible and make sure they can't ever get to you again," he added, into my neck where he'd buried his face.

I dug my fingers into his hair, just like I knew he loved. Massaging his scalp, I told him, "I know you do. And you'll find them. I just don't want you to kill yourself in the process."

Dick kissed my neck, chuckling as I shivered. "Alright, if I'm not allowed to patrol, just what did you have in mind for the night's activities?"

I hummed, pretending to think. "Well, I was planning on showering, and since I can't wash my hair one handed, I just might need help."

His answering grin made me weak in the knees. "I would love to help you with that."


	22. Chapter 22

Dick actually got eight hours of sleep that night, meaning I was late for work the next morning. Well, sleeping wasn't what made me late, but Dick definitely was. And Sel merely grinned and jokingly scolded me, before diving back into her database searches. So far, only the tiniest traces had been found on any of my attackers, and none of those traces worked together to make a very clear picture, to the grave frustration of everyone involved. So, I ran the Foundation, as much as I could, and Sel combed through every byte she could find.

Around five, the elevator dinged, announcing an arrival. "Is Dick coming to pick you up tonight?" she asked distractedly, still very focused on her screens.

I grinned. They were right on time. "Nope," I told her, popping the "P" loudly, mostly to get her attention.

"Then who is it?" she asked, instantly wary, probably because of my slightly manic grin.

But I didn't get a chance to answer, because the door to her office opened and in walked some of the most stunning women I had ever seen in my life. "It's party time," Lois sang, holding up the bottle of tequila like a prized relic.

Sel looked at everyone, slightly confused, as food and drink were spread across her desk, including in front of her monitors, coincidentally enough. But when she caught my eye again, it seemed to click. "Thank you," she mouthed, and I grinned back to her.

"It's so good to see you again," Artemis told me as she gave me a quick hug.

"You, too! We definitely need to have a date night again," I replied. "With or without the boys remains to be seen."

She laughed, then turned to the others in the room. "Okay, I know you know Lois and Babs, but this is Dinah," the gorgeous blonde, "and this is Diana," the absolute knockout brunette, "and Zatanna," the other beautiful brunette who looked a bit closer to my age than the other two and awfully familiar.

"It's nice to meet you guys."

"Thanks for giving us an excuse to come visit Selina," Dinah told me, grinning. "Oliver can get along without me for a night, and I desperately needed a girls' night."

Lois nodded, perching on the edge of Sel's desk. "You're telling me. Jon's hitting puberty, and an almost teenaged meta is a lot to handle. And then there's work, too."

"Damian may not be a meta, but he definitely makes up for it in being dramatic," Sel laughed. "And he's not even my son biologically."

"No, but he is Batman's, and there's no denying he's dramatic," Zatanna quipped, opening up the chips for the fantastic looking salsa.

My brain stuttered for a second, and then I understood. "Oh my- You're that Zatanna! The one who-"

"Used to date Dick, yep," she said, popping the entire chip into her mouth.

"I was going to say the famous magician, but yeah, Dick's ex works, too. Wait, how did I manage to end up in a room with two of my boyfriend's exes?"

"You decided I needed a girls' night, apparently," Sel said, giving me a side hug before popping open the tequila.

"But don't worry. We're both on good terms with Dick, and I like you, so I think it'll be okay," Barbara laughed. "Besides, we can tell you all kinds of dirt on him."

"Oh, good point. Do tell."

It wasn't until after the bottle of tequila (or maybe the second one) was gone that it really hit me. "You're Black Canary," I said, pointing near Dinah. Or her double. "And you're Wonder Woman." Diana swam as I squinted at her. "Is ever'one I know a super?"

"Not everyone," Lois replied, patting my knee.

"But you're married to Superman. And a mom. Think that makes you a super." I leaned on her shoulder, and she wrapped an arm around me and petted my hair. "Think I love you, Wonder Woman. C'n I have your babies?"

Diana looked amused. Possibly. I wasn't sure, since she was a little blurry. "That's not quite possible, given your physiology, but I appreciate the sentiment, Gen. I heard about your struggle with the men who attacked you. Jason was quite pleased with your handiwork."

"Th' eyeball went pppsshhhh," I said, making an explosion with my hands. "Cause Sel's ring is really pretty."

Her eyebrows grew into one. "I'm afraid I don't understand."

She looked so sad, and that made me sad. "I didn't mean to make you sad!" I cried, reaching out to the most beautiful woman ever. But Lois held me down, the meanie. "I'm so sorry!"

Lois patted my head again, and Babs hugged my arm, while Artemis snuggled against my legs. "What she meant was the ring I'd given her for Christmas was the reason his eye burst," Sel explained, laughing at me. Meanie. "Though her right hook had to have been super powerful to do that, ring or no."

I guess I still like her, I thought. Everyone laughed, so maybe I thought out loud. Oh well.

…

Everyone stayed the night in Sel's penthouse, and Alfred saved the day (the morning?) by bringing us all breakfast. "Ugh, coffee," was all I could manage to grunt, spitting out chunks of Artemis's blonde hair from my mouth. And pushing Zatanna's legs off mine. At some point, and I had no idea when, the three of us, along with Babs, had pulled the cushions off Sel's delightfully plush couch and made a nest on the floor. At least, I assumed we had, but there really was a lack of evidence to prove who did it. So, when we woke, there was a massive tangle of limbs, and hair, and clothes. It took us far too long to get straightened out, and Sel took far too many pictures. Even if she looked as hungover as I felt.

But I finally managed to get free, and we all helped Babs back into her chair, and finally I was able to partake of the sweet goodness that was Alfred-prepared coffee. "Honestly, Alfred, if I thought you would say yes, I would leave Oliver in a heartbeat to marry you," Dinah sighed, slowly eating her bacon.

"For the sake of your relationship, I must decline," Alfred replied. I could see the twinkle in his eyes as he continued, "I doubt Mr. Queen would survive, should you choose to leave him."

Chuckles filled the room, followed by a few groans. "I think you're right," Dinah said. "But at least he's still got Raisa to feed us all, and she cooks almost as well as you. You wouldn't be interested in a lovely Ukrainian woman who regularly terrifies a six-foot vigilante into behaving well, would you?"

"Are you trying to steal my fiance's butler for your boyfriend?" Sel gasped, dramatically throwing her hand to her chest.

"No, of course not," Dinah refuted, eyes twinkling madly. "I'm trying to bring love and life to two possibly lonely souls. How could you possibly think I have ulterior motives?"

"Because I know you all too well," Sel laughed, throwing a pillow at her friend's head.

Alfred's lips twitched in amusement. "I'm flattered that you hold me in such high regard, Miss Lance, but my loyalties lie here in Gotham. I'm afraid there's no one else I could trust the manor to, not to mention the wellbeing of Gotham's defenders."

"Yeah, I rely on your food far too much to ever let you leave, Alfred," I told him with a grin. "And I would have had to go see a regular doctor for my hand when I punched Patchy, and I've told you many times how much I hate regular doctors."

"Yes, I believe that topic was well covered as I splinted your fingers, Miss Genevieve," he replied, with an air that would have been accompanied by an eyeroll, had he been any less proper.

"But I adore you," I assured him, still grinning at him. "And your remote control driving is spectacular."

Alfred shook his head as he began to clean up the remnants of breakfast, and Artemis, Zatanna, and I jumped up to help. "You needn't continue to flatter me, Miss Genevieve. I won't be leaving Gotham, so there's no need to butter me up."

"Alfred, you deserve all the flattering," Zatanna said, before I could even think of a reply. "You do so much, and not just for the Bats. There's not a person in here who hasn't been helped by you, and that's not including today's breakfast."

"Yeah, Alfie, you're the best," Artemis added, surprising him with a kiss to the cheek. "I haven't forgotten the time you splinted my wrist for me when I was sixteen."

"Or the time you helped us find Jon and Damian," Lois continued, smiling over her coffee mug.

"Or every time you've lent a listening ear," Diana (Wonder Woman! Eep!) said, smiling gently. "Every person even tangentially connected to the Justice League owes you their thanks, many times over, Alfred. You truly are a treasure."

I never thought I would see Alfred blush, but I guess getting such a high compliment from an Amazonian princess (goddess? I wasn't really sure) affected even our stoic Brit. "Ladies, you've been too kind. It's been lovely to see you all again, but I have several tasks to see to at the manor. Have a nice morning."

After the elevator doors closed behind Alfred, Dinah sighed. "Honestly, I love Ollie, but seriously, Alfred would win, if he ever chose to compete."

"I'd have to agree," Artemis said. "Wally may be the love of my life, but he can't make waffles like Alfred."

"And Wally would throw you over for Alfred faster than he can run," Zatanna quipped, smirking.

I'd seen Wally eat, so I knew that was probably true. "That is one of the best perks about dating Dick," I confessed. Zatanna and Babs agreed vehemently.

"Don't tell Bruce, but it's high on the list of reasons I agreed to marry him," Sel said, popping the last bite of her waffle into her mouth with a wistful sigh. "I have a lifetime of this to look forward to," she added, with a very cat-got-the-canary grin twisting her lips.

"And sometimes I hate you," Lois said, with absolutely no weight behind it.


	23. Chapter 23

My schemes with both Dick and Sel seemed to work. Both of them were able to relax a little, be a little less manic in their searches for whoever had attacked me, though no less determined to find them. And both even got back to their normal work, though still at a reduced rate. That made them less stressed, which made for a less stressed Gen. Altogether, I counted the weekend as a win, and as the next week progressed, we all fell into a more normal routine.

Friday morning, Sel and I had a video chat meeting with Lena Luther, helping in her quest to partner with New Leash in National City. For having a homicidal megalomaniac for a brother, Lena was surprisingly congenial and easy to talk to, and she seemed to actually care for those the program aimed to help, both human and animal. But oh boy did she like to talk! Our meeting, which we had originally slated for two hours, ended up going for over four, pushing everything else on our schedule back.

Desperately needing to stretch my legs by dinnertime, I volunteered to go get our food, instead of having it delivered, like we usually did. I was paying for Sel's double chicken enchiladas and my sweet pork tacos when my phone rang. "Hey, babe, I'm getting food for me and Sel," I told Dick, pausing before paying. "Do you want anything?"

"Viv, you need to drop whatever you're doing and get to the manor," he said, sounding more serious than I'd ever heard him. "There's been a breakout at Arkham."

My heart stopped. Horror filled my stomach. I felt like I couldn't move. I had to have heard him wrong, or it was a joke, something. There was no way that there had been a breakout from the most secure prison, with the most deranged prisoners. That just couldn't be right.

"Viv? Viv, babe, are you there? Genevieve!" Dick's voice broke through my terror slightly, kicking me into motion. I swiped my card, grabbed the bag with my food, and replied all at the same time.

"I'm here, sorry. I'm on my way to the manor now, I swear."

I could hear his sigh of relief as I left the restaurant. "I won't be there when you get home, but it's the safest place to be," he told me.

"Don't worry about me," I scolded, heading for my car. "I'll be fine. You make sure you're safe."

"I'm always safe." And there was the cocky Dick I loved. "I love you."

"Love you, too."

As I crossed the busy street to my car, I could hear sirens in the distance, which wasn't an unusual sound in Gotham, but it filled me with dread. Slipping my phone and card into my pocket, I paused to put the food in the passenger side of my car. Arms went around me, a bag went over my head, and then blackness filled my mind.

…

I came to all at once, just suddenly completely awake and aware of what was around me. Which wasn't much, to be honest, other than the fact that I was tied to a chair in what seemed to be an abandoned warehouse at the docks. The concrete floor and faint sounds of tug boat whistles gave that away. See? I wanted to crow to Jason and Damian, who'd made fun of me for being unobservant, but then the present situation reminded me of just how unobservant I'd been. After all, I hadn't even realized that I'd been followed, which allowed me to be kidnapped, bringing me back to the present situation. One that was slightly blurry, for some reason. I blinked a few times, then closed one eye, then the other. Great, I thought to myself. Not only am I kidnapped, but somehow, I've lost one contact. Lovely. At least it was my right eye, which wasn't nearly as bad as my left one.

A smooth, lightly accented voice interrupted my musings. "It's nice to see you awake, Ms. Kyle," she purred, and I jerked my head to the left to see who it was.

A gorgeous woman, with dark hair, golden skin, and a huge glower stalked toward me. "You're not Selina Kyle," she growled, hand fisting in my hair to make me look up at her more.

"Clearly not," I snapped. "We don't look that much alike."

She slapped me across the face with her free hand, not letting go with her other. My neck burned as much as my face, since I couldn't move to get away from the blow. "Who are you?" she hissed at me. "Why were you driving a Wayne car?"

Logic told me that since she was already targeting the Waynes, it wouldn't do much good to keep the truth from her. "I'm Genevieve Thornton, Selina's assistant, also dating Dick. Now, who are you and what do you want with Sel?"

A contemplative look crossed her face. "At least you're smart enough to realize I didn't want you," she said, letting go of my hair.

I snorted, stretching my neck to attempt to alleviate some of the pain I felt there. "Yeah, kinda figured that when the first thing you did was call me by her name."

"You insolent little wretch," she screeched, slapping me again.

But this time, I was ready for her. I couldn't do much, since I was still tied to the chair, but I did what I could, namely biting down when her hand got within striking range. I ignored the blood that filled my mouth, and the scream she let out, holding on until she punched me in the head with her other hand. Slightly dazed by the blow, I spat out as much blood as I could, since that was definitely something I didn't want to swallow. The rest I could feel dripping down my mouth.

"You will pay for that," she said, inspecting her hand with a creepy calmness that was completely at odds with her earlier shriek. It was incredibly disturbing. "You may not have been my initial target, but it seems like my men's incompetence will still work out in the end, since you are so intimately connected with the Waynes. Something we have in common."

I really didn't like the way she emphasized the word intimately, causing shivers to run down my spine. "Who are you?" I repeated, desperate for some sort of understanding in whatever was going on around me.

A cocky smirk turned up the corners of her lips. "Oh, I'm sure you've heard of me," she purred, suddenly much too close for comfort. "After all, I know so many of the Wayne family so well."

Something in the way she spoke had been snagging on the edges of my subconscious the whole time, but it finally clicked then. "You're Talia," I spat, suddenly angrier than I'd already been. I knew what she'd done, to Bruce, to Jason, and to Damian, and to the whole family by extension. Maybe not all of what she'd done, but definitely enough to hate her more than any other person.

She preened. "So, you have heard of me."

"Oh, yeah, I've heard of you," I snapped. "Like how you totally screwed Jason over, and kept him from his family, letting them think he was dead. Or how you basically raped Bruce to get yourself pregnant with Damian, all so your dad could have a physically superb body to use. Or the abuse you subjected Damian to for the first ten years of his life. Yeah, I've heard of you, you psychotic-"

Another slap stopped me short. "You know nothing of what you speak," Talia hissed at me. "You know nothing of plans millennia in the making."

"Yeah, you and dear old dad should really stop with the plan making, Talia," a new voice said. "'Cause you're both terrible at executing them."

Several batarangs came from different positions behind me, though sadly, Talia managed to dodge them all. Knowing my family the way I did, I was pretty sure none of them had actually been thrown to hurt her, just to get her farther from me.

"Let Genevieve go, Talia," Bruce, or rather, Batman, said, in that deep, slightly gravelly voice that brooked absolutely no argument.

But Talia didn't listen. "Beloved, it's been too long," she purred, zeroing in on someone behind me.

A whip cracked, nearly wrapping around her arm before she managed to evade it, too. "You don't get to call him that," Sel snarled.

"He was my beloved far before you and your little flirtation," Talia goaded. "And he'll be mine long after."

"Let Thornton go, Mother."

A smile painted her lips, but didn't go anywhere near her eyes. "My darling son, it's so good to see you again," she cooed darkly. It sent shivers down my spine.

In full Robin regalia, domino mask included, Damian walked out from the shadows to where I could see him. He marched and planted himself firmly in front of me, letting absolutely no question remain about where his loyalties lay. "Let Thornton go, Mother," he demanded again. "And leave my family alone."


	24. Chapter 24

Damian's display of loyalty seemed to surprise his mother, since her eyebrows went up a bit. But that was the only tell she let on. "My love, it is time for you to come home," she said, imperiously cold. "Your grandfather is waiting for you."

"My home is in Gotham," he said, over Jason's loud declaration of "Over my dead again body", Dick's shout of "You are never touching him again!", Tim's protest "You and Ra's can rot in hell", and Steph's snorted "You're crazier than I realized, lady." Cass didn't bother with verbally replying, but her batarang that passed close enough to Talia's head to cut off a lock of hair left no doubt to where she stood. Even for the very serious moment, I couldn't help but feel a bit of a glow at their sibling love.

"As you can see, Talia, my son is not going anywhere with you," Bruce said, stepping up beside Damian, with Sel on Damian's other side. It also conveniently put them all between me and the crazy lady, giving someone (I assumed Dick, but had no way to know, since whoever it was didn't say a word) a chance to slip up behind me to begin untying the rope holding my wrists behind the chair. "This doesn't have to get any worse. We can leave now and put this all behind us." Sel snorted, but didn't contradict him.

"It's much too late for that, beloved," Talia purred. "I refuse to let you marry that woman. You are meant for much more than that mongrel."

Sel literally growled. "Better a mongrel than a crazy inbred-"

But just exactly what she was, we didn't find out, since an explosion behind me stole everyone's attention. "Better late than never, I suppose," Talia sighed, like the whole thing was a big inconvenience. To her. The one who arranged my kidnapping.

Her hired thugs came crawling through nearly every entrance like a plague of locusts or flies or not particularly bright ninjas. Duljas? I shook my head to rid myself of the ridiculous thought. Dick really had rubbed off on me if I was punning, even in my head. Or maybe whatever the thugs had given me was affecting me more than I'd realized.

The person freeing me turned out to be Cass, since she was the one pulling me up and out of the way as soon as she had me freed from the chair. She pushed me into a dark(er) corner and shoved something into my hands. "Stay here. Stay safe," she ordered, then dove back into the fray like the silent, crazy-good ninja she really was.

I knew I wasn't much good in a fight, evidenced by how easily I'd been taken, so I pushed myself further into the shadows, trying not to be a distraction for my family who had come to save me. Nothing says damsel in distress like needing saving, I thought darkly, not terribly pleased with myself. If I get out of this alive, I'm definitely working harder on my self-defense.

The Bat clan swirled around the warehouse, putting a thug down with nearly every movement. But Talia had access to an entire organization of thugs, and it seemed like nearly every single one of them was there at her bidding. Red Robin was directly in front of me, and then he danced away, throwing his bolas to expertly entangle two of the other men together. Then Red Hood was happily punching faces and shooting kneecaps ten feet away from me. Then it was Batgirl, happily choking a man with her legs around his neck as she also used him to take out some of his compatriots. And Nightwing flipped over another man, grabbing his shoulders on his way to landing and throwing him down.

That man skidded, stopping a few feet in front of me. I think we surprised each other, though he recovered a bit faster than I had. He grinned, coming to his feet far more quickly than I would have. "You could put a very effective end to this," he said, sounding reasonable, but given the fact that he was stalking toward me with a terrifying grin and utterly dark and empty eyes while holding a gigantic knife, I didn't really think we were on the same page. "Come with me and we can-"

I cut off his smarmy words and forward movement for just a moment by bringing my hands up. And the gun that Cass has slipped into my hands. "Really, a gun?" he sneered, continuing closer to me. "You're on Batman's team-"

I didn't think. I simply squeezed the trigger, and his instant shout of pain and surprise sounded nearly on top of the report of the gun. He dropped to the ground, clutching his knee, and suddenly, the ground was no longer under my feet. "Way to be, Gen," a voice laughed in my ear as my surroundings blurred. "Though I would have aimed a bit higher, to be honest."

The world coalesced again back to normal, outside of the warehouse, though I was left with the feeling that I might be sick. "Now, stay with Arty, she'll keep you safe. Love you, babe," Wally said, kissing Artemis before zipping back inside, presumably to help the others.

Artemis steadied me a bit, though her eyes only focused on me for a few seconds at a time. "You okay, Gen?" she asked, armed and ready for anyone who tried to come for me again.

"I'm not really a fan of the way your boyfriend gets around," I mumbled, leaning over to try to catch my breath. "Or being kidnapped, but ya know, just peachy otherwise."

She huffed out a laugh. "I knew I liked you for a reason. After all, someone who can joke after being kidnapped is someone strong enough to handle being part of this life."

I hummed in acknowledgement, but still bent over. "Not that I'm not super excited to see you, but I thought you guys were retired."

"Retirement is a rather fluid concept in some circles," Artemis smirked. "After all, Dick asked for help, and you're the one who was in trouble. You're family. And we come out of retirement for family."

I stared at her for a long moment, long enough that she seemed to flush just the tiniest bit. "If you weren't so happy with Wally, and I didn't love Dick, I would marry you right now."

That startled another laugh out of her. "Don't tell Wonder Woman that. She's here, too, and I remember someone wanting to have her babies."

I legit gaped at her, jaw hanging wide open. "Wonder Woman came to help save me?" It came out a bit strangled, but I was too awed to bother worrying about it.

Artemis smirked, looking far too amused, even as she continued to keep an eye on our surroundings. "Nearly the entire JL are here or will be soon, and most of the Titans. It only took Dick about twenty minutes after you should have been at the manor to realize something was wrong, since your car hadn't moved, and that's when the Bats realized the prison break was a ploy to get to you."

"To get to Sel, actually," I corrected. "It's Talia, trying like a crazy person to somehow get Bruce back. Apparently, romance to her means killing the competition."

She tensed up, her grip on her bow suddenly white-knuckled. "That crazy, psychotic- Honestly, it would be better for everyone if she were to spontaneously sprout a few arrows in some rather vital body parts. She's done so much to hurt them, all of them. Between her and Ra's, it's a miracle any of the Bats can function."

The sound of sirens pierced the night. "Ah, the cavalry's arrived," Artemis grinned. The sirens got closer, and in only a minute, seven or eight police cars and two whole SWAT vans pulled up. Police officers, fully taced up, spilled out, converging on the entrances of the warehouse while the commissioner hurried toward us.

"Ms. Thornton, Artemis, it's good to see you safe," Commissioner Gordon said. "Please give us an idea of what's going on inside."

Between the Bats, the JL, the Titans, and the police, Talia and her duljas were quickly overwhelmed. But even as they were trotted out in handcuffs, Talia didn't lose her haughty demeanor. "Fifty bucks says she claims diplomatic immunity to wiggle out of this," Artemis growled.

My jaw dropped again. "She's got diplomatic immunity? How is that fair?"

"It's not." Dick's voice behind me sent a surge of relief through me that nearly knocked me off my feet, which made it particularly handy that he wrapped his arms around me at nearly the same time. "You're safe," he breathed in my ear. "You're safe, babe, I've got you."

With the amount of people milling around the parking lot, it was easy to blend in, staying in the shadows to keep eyes off us. After all, it wouldn't do to out all the Bats' secret identities, but I was more than happy to accept all the comfort and security that my boyfriend was willing to give to me, especially with knowing it was helping him as much as it was me. Sadly, it didn't last for long, since we each had to give our statements, but it was enough to get me through it all.

"So, this was all a case of mistaken identity?" Commissioner Gordon asked me, after I'd told him that I'd been grabbed because I looked like Sel. "Was that the case last time, too?"

I shrugged, exhaustion settling in now that the adrenaline rush had passed. "I have to assume so, but I don't know for sure. But really, Sel and I don't even look that much alike."

"You look like you could be sisters," he replied.

"Yeah, still not the same person," I muttered, too tired to care that I probably sounded like a child.

His lips twitched, like he was trying not to laugh. Or smile, at the least. "No, you're not, Ms. Thornton. But speaking of Ms. Kyle, I personally called Wayne Manor to inform them that you're safe. Would you like a ride back? I'm sure they're all quite concerned." Again, his lips twitched, and I just knew that he knew the identities of Gotham's heroes, if not the rest. But it made sense, since his daughter was the tech support for them.

"Um… I-" I had no idea what the right answer was, but thankfully, Wally answered for me.

"I've got her, Commissioner," he said cheerily. "I'll deliver her safely to- Where am I taking you, Miss?"

I gaped at him, taking way too long to realize he was trying to act like he didn't know me. "Oh, uh, Wayne Manor, please. I'm dating Dick Grayson, so that's probably where he's waiting for me."

"So, that's why some psycho took you, dating a rich guy. Makes sense," Wally said. "Ready to go?"

I turned to the commissioner, but he simply smiled. "If we have any questions, Ms. Thornton, we know where to find you."

"Thanks," I replied, aiming it at him, and Artemis, and everyone who had come to save me.

"That's what we're here for, Ms. Thornton. Give my best to the Waynes, will you?"

I barely had time to nod before Wally had me in his arms again, zooming us to the manor in less than thirty seconds. Alfred was there on the front steps, waiting with cocoa and a hug for me.


	25. Chapter 25

Alfred's long hug went a long way to helping me feel a bit more normal again, to say nothing of the cocoa he gave me. It was what I imagined a hug from a grandfather would feel like, with his usual scent of sandalwood and lemon furniture polish, and just a hint of gingerbread, wafting over me. "The others should be here shortly, but we could retire to the kitchen to wait for them," he told me, after I finally released him. "And you're more than welcome to join us, Master Wally."

Wally grinned. "Ah, Alfie, you do know the way to a man's heart."

"It's been the same since you were fifteen, and I doubt anything will change in the future," Alfred declared, still looking as serene as ever as he led us to the kitchen, even for the mad twinkle in his eyes.

"Food and snark do it for you, I'm guessing?" I joked, trying to push past my residual terror. "I know Artemis has the snark in spades, and I've tried her food, so that must be how she won you over."

"Absolutely," Wally chirped. "Though it really was the snark at first. We both pretended to hate each other for a long time."

"With a heavy emphasis on the 'pretended to' part of that statement," Alfred broke in, handing us each a cookie. It was still warm, so I figured he'd had to have just taken them out of the oven. The timer went off, proving me right as he went to the oven that I could nearly stand up in and removed several more trays of cookies. "I predict we'll have a few guests after everything's been cleared with the police, so we'll need nibbles for them all," he continued, pulling things from the giant fridge next. He put Wally and me to work, cutting vegetables and fruits while he slipped into the oven as many casserole pans as he'd removed cookie sheets. "These should only take about half an hour to heat through," he said proudly.

Out of all the things that I had seen that night, that was the one that surprised me the most. "Do you always have seven casseroles on hand?" I asked him, around the cucumber slice in my mouth. After all, I never had gotten to eat my lunch. I mourned my tacos as I moved to cut the carrots.

Wally laughed at me. "That's Alfie's superpower," he joked. "Always being prepared, no matter the situation."

"When one has as much experience feeding large groups of supers as I do, one learns to keep some things on hand, Miss Genevieve," Alfred said sedately.

And it turned out that it was needed. Less than ten minutes after the casseroles left the oven, the hordes descended. Between the front door, the garage, and the Batcave (still weird to think I'd been in it!), a fairly steady stream of people joined us in the house, including most of the Justice League, all of Damian's friends on the Titans, and several others who weren't currently on any team but had been team members with one of the Bats at a past time. I was introduced to so many people, people who regularly and routinely saved the day, that my head swam. Once Dick was home, he didn't leave my side for a second, and the only time he let go of me was when I received hugs from someone else, like the very enthusiastic one that Jon Kent gave me, or the stern/relieved one from Sel. I met more of Dick's teammates from back when he was Robin, and yet another one of his exes, Starfire, who had apparently also dated Jason. And I was introduced to the remaining founding members of the Justice League who I hadn't met yet, along with the rest of the members who had come to help.

Between all the various people I talked with, I figured I got at least most of the picture of what had happened after I'd been taken. Dick had realized I wasn't at the manor like I should have been, and it only took the entire Bat clan about thirty seconds after that to realize the Arkham breakout was a distraction from my kidnapping. It was about then that Babs called and let them all know that Shaitan Enterprises had rented out a warehouse along the docks, through numerous shell companies, and Damian swore profusely in Arabic. Somehow, through sheer, dumb luck, no one had mentioned Shaitan around him, which is a real shame, given that he could have answered everything surrounding the first attempt to kidnap me in less than ten minutes. Shaitan Enterprises was the company his mother used for her unapproved-by-her-father schemes. On the plus side, if it wasn't approved by Ra's, that might mean he would be willing to let her rot in jail for a few days at least, but no one was counting on more than a week, at most.

Bruce called in the JL, and everyone else called in favors. The Bats came to rescue me, with everyone else cleaning up the breakout. When I realized that Bruce had actually handed over the breakout to come get me, I nearly cried. Batman's dedication to Gotham was legendary, and for him to willingly leave the safety of the city to come rescue me let me know exactly where I stood in his eyes.

The JL had everything straightened up at Arkham and joined us at the warehouse just after the explosion Talia's dulajs had made. And with their help, everything was neatly tied up, with a bow on top, by the time GCPD arrived. After that, it was mostly a matter of getting everyone's statement and making sure all the goons were loaded into prison transports. Though, to be honest, no one really expected any of them to last the night. Talia was well known for not allowing failures or mistakes of any kind, and kidnapping the wrong person and then allowing the JL to completely unravel the operation sort of screamed failure. I knew I probably should feel bad that all those men would die, but somehow, I couldn't. They clearly knew what they were signing up for when they agreed to work for Talia, and I knew that a friendly chat to try to convince Sel not to marry Bruce wasn't exactly the plan after getting a hold of her. So, no, I didn't feel too bad for them. And it meant none of them could spill anything they might have learned about my family, which meant their identities were still safe.

The impromptu party finally wound down around three. The last guests were Superman as he slung a sleeping, seemingly boneless Jon over his shoulder and Wonder Woman, who gave me a hug (squee!). "I'm glad you're unharmed," she told me, just before heading into the zeta tube.

And that left me with my family, and a very full heart. "Thank you, guys, for sav-"

"Don't even finish that sentence."

"Stop right there."

"It's what we do."

"Of course, we came for you."

"I'm not leaving anyone in my mother's clutches if I can help it."

Their assurances warmed me, but I still needed to say what I had to say. "I don't care if I don't have to say thanks, I'm going to anyway!" I said, rather loudly. That shut them up. I saw Alfred's lips twitch in amusement. "I appreciate you all coming to save me, for risking your lives to get me," I continued in a much more normal tone. "The fact that you were willing to save me, even with the breakout, that means a lot, so thank you."

I knew it was awkward, especially since I could see Jason smirking at me, but I really didn't have words for how I felt. They'd saved me, at tremendous risk to both themselves and the city. I'd never had people like that in my life before, though I really knew that there weren't other people like them. Not really. "Thanks," I said again, still clutching Dick's hand like a lifeline. "I love you guys."

Damian, predictably, wrinkled his nose in disgust, while Jason and Steph made kissy sounds and obnoxious coos, also utterly predictable. Dick kissed my temple and pulled me in closer. Sel just blew me a kiss from by Bruce, who looked rather softer than I'd ever seen him in the Batsuit, even sans cowl. Cass grinned and gave me a thumbs up. Tim simply blinked at me, like he couldn't quite comprehend what I'd said. Alfred simply looked rather pleased with the whole lot of us.

…

I had just slipped into bed, waiting for Dick to join me, when a knock sounded on the bedroom door. "Come in," I called, grabbing my glasses from the nightstand, since without them, I would only have a vague idea of who it could be based on general blurry size and shape.

Damian slipped in the room, closing the door behind him like he was worried someone would see him. But then he just stared at me, or rather, a spot near me, with intense concentration. I could see one hand clenching and unclenching just the slightest, which in anyone not raised as a ninja would be a nervous twitch.

After about two minutes of this, I couldn't handle the suspense. "Dick is downstairs with Bruce still," I said, since I couldn't think of anything he would want from me.

"I know. I wanted to speak with you, Thornton," he replied, still seeming a bit uneasy.

Which made me uneasy. "Okay, what about?" I asked slowly.

Damian sighed. "My mother. I came to apologize for the way-"

"Whoa, whoa, back the truck up, buddy," I cut him off, scooting toward the edge of the bed to be closer to him. When I finally caught his eye, I continued. "Damian, I want you to understand something, okay? I don't hold you responsible for what your mother did. Every choice she made is her own, and you have absolutely no accountability for this at all. Not only are you still a child, as much as you don't want to hear that, but your mother is her own person. You cannot be held accountable for what any other person does, do you understand?"

He stubbornly looked down. "But she's my mother, and-"

"And my mother was a crack whore who left me with my car thief of a father when I was nine," I interrupted again, surprising him enough that he looked at me. "I don't care who you are, or who your parents are. There is nothing a child can do that puts responsibility for their parents' actions on the child's shoulders. Absolutely nothing, Damian. Your mom… Your mom has her own issues, but it's not your fault, kiddo. Take it from someone who also learned it the hard way. Your mom, and only your mom, is responsible for her actions. You can only be responsible for your choices and actions, for the things you say and do. And from what I've seen, you're a pretty great kid."

Damian looked away again, but not before I saw a tear slipping from his eye. "Then why did she leave me?"

I could barely hear the words, but it was enough to send me flying from the bed. I wrapped my arms around him, smothering him with a hug he probably didn't want. "Damian, it's not your fault," I whispered, choking back tears of my own. Not only for him, but for my own little nine-year-old self. "Parents aren't perfect. They screw up, sometimes big. But I can't help but think that Talia's best decision was to bring you here to Gotham, to your dad and this family. Even if it was for selfish reasons, it still ended up being the best thing that could have happened to you. You have a family who loves you, and a dad who would literally move heaven and earth to do whatever he needs to do to keep you safe. Sel loves you, and you have a whole team of friends who have your back. Plus, Jon seems to think that the entire world revolves around you. So, while giving you up may have been the absolute stupidest thing Talia could ever have done for herself," I said, emphasizing those last two words specifically, "it was the best thing in the world for you. And I'm pretty glad she did, since it means I get to spend time with a pretty amazing kid."

Damian held himself perfectly still throughout my entire speech, until he suddenly melted against me. His face went into my neck, his arms went around me, and he sobbed.

I held him for a long time, but I really wasn't that strong, and he was almost as tall as me and probably weighed more than I did. Very slowly, I maneuvered us toward the bed, continually petting his head to reassure him that I wasn't about to let him go. I leaned against the headboard, bringing him with me, and the poor kid simply curled up nearly in my lap.

Which is how Dick found us. His worried eyes found mine, but I reassured him with a simple shake of my head. So, he simply climbed in bed next to me and wrapped his arms around the both of us, and between the two very warm bodies, I soon fell asleep.


	26. Chapter 26

Epilogue- Four months later

"Sel, you look absolutely stunning, and I sort of hate you a little bit," I moaned, fluffing my best friend's train yet again.

She just laughed and adjusted her fascinator. "Well, darling, you look utterly gorgeous yourself, so you have no need to fear. Dick isn't going to be able to keep his hands off you."

"Gen, I lost my flowers again!" Steph yelled at me from across the room, panicking.

"They're by the door to the chapel. Pick them up only as you're about to enter the chapel," I yelled back. "Cass, you do have to put your shoes on at some point, hon."

She glared at me, but finally acquiesced when Alfred joined in the glaring. No one disagreed with an Alfred glare. And Babs just laughed at us all from her chair by the door. "You two make such a good maid of honor," she teased us.

"I am the butler," Alfred stated haughtily. "I assist wherever I am needed."

"Which is actually, at this point, making sure that my future husband is not overthinking everything and panicking," Sel said. She kissed his cheek gently, then shooed him out the door. "Thank you for everything."

Ten more minutes of last-minute preparations, and then Alex, the wedding planner (who was really superfluous, given that we had Alfred), knocked on the door. "It's time, Ms. Kyle," he stuttered, staring in awe at the vision that was Selina in her gorgeous wedding dress.

The five of us made our way to the small antechamber just off the side of the main chapel. The four boys met us there, and man, Dick looked yummy. I'd seen him in a tux plenty of times, but he somehow managed to look utterly delectable each time. "It's a good thing we planned a few extra minutes before the processional starts," Sel laughed, shoving me into my boyfriend's arms. "Don't smear her lipstick, Kitten."

I was peripherally aware of the other boys telling Sel how pretty she looked, but most of my brain was uselessly going "Dick, yum," over and over. And from the slightly dumbstruck look on his face, he seemed to have the same problem.

"You look…," he started, then shook his head. "I literally don't have words for how beautiful you look, Viv."

"I love you," I blurted, still a bit muddled. "And you look amazing."

He grinned. "I love you, too."

"Yo, best man, time to line up," Jason called, and I didn't have to see his face to know he was grinning manically.

Dick kissed me quickly, then we joined the others by the doors. I fluffed Sel's dress one last time, to make sure everything settled perfectly. Dick and I each gave her a quick kiss to the cheek, then linked arms directly in front of her. I accepted my bouquet from Alex, then the music started. Alex threw the doors open, and Cass and Damian stepped through. I was quite impressed with them; you wouldn't have guessed from their smiles that they were dreadfully uncomfortable. Babs and Tim were next, then Steph and Jay. (Sel had confessed to matchmaking with those two.) And then it was my turn with Dick, and that aisle seemed to stretch forever. We eventually made it to the end, where Bruce was slightly vibrating in anticipation.

And then the wedding march started playing, with the audience rising from their seats. Sel appeared in the doors of the chapel, looking utterly gorgeous, but I only spared a quick glance for her. I wanted to see Bruce's reaction, and I was so glad I had. His jaw literally dropped, though only slightly, and his eyes went misty. A soft smile curved his lips. And for once, he looked completely happy, no haunting shadows lingering in his eyes. I couldn't stop the few tears that slipped down my face just from the look on his.

Sel joined us at the top of the aisle, handing me her giant bouquet with a kiss to my cheek before stepping up to her place next to Bruce. It was about that time that I caught Dick's eye again, and he just looked so good that I couldn't help but stare at him. I honestly didn't pay attention to the ceremony at all, just stared at the man I was utterly in love with. Who somehow also was in love with me. I still wasn't terribly sure how that had happened, but I wasn't about to question it, either. I was happier than I'd ever been, and I wouldn't let anything ruin it that day.

Soon enough, Sel and Bruce were man and wife, walking down the aisle with matching, gigantic grins. If I didn't love them so much, it probably would have been a bit nauseating, but I did, and it was adorable. I linked up with Dick again, and we led the rest of the wedding party out of the chapel and to the waiting limo.

Back at the manor, we had the formal society luncheon and reception, where we had to smile and look pretty for three hours, all while most of the people there talked about us behind our backs and smiled to our faces. As the resident zombie, Jason got to duck out of it, and sent the rest of us mocking texts the entire time. Steph threatened to kill him no less than twenty-seven times. I was impressed, because each threat was different and entirely unique. Cass and I offered our services, should they be required, but she turned us down. "I think I can handle big bad Jay," she told us, grinning cheekily. It gave me the feeling that her idea of "handling him" might have been a bit literal.

Once the last of the horrible snobs finally left, it meant we had a few hours before the fun reception for Batman and Catwoman began. And the minute the car door shut behind Mr. and Mrs. Haymore and her sugar baby, Dick was whisking me upstairs. "I have been dying to get you to myself," he murmured against my throat, scattering kisses and causing shivers. "You look incredible, Viv."

His kisses moved to my collarbone, pulling a gasp from me. "You have been killing me in this tux," I finally managed to say, sliding my arms under the jacket.

"And you make this dress stunning," he replied, grinning mischievously. "But I think it needs a break from you for a few hours, if it's going to last all night, too."

"I do like the way you think," I laughed, deliriously happy.

…

It was a good thing that the reception started at seven, since neither Dick nor I set an alarm. We managed to put ourselves back together, but only after Tim banged on Dick's door to wake us up. But we weren't the only ones a little behind, since Bruce and Sel sailed into the garden ten minutes after us, somehow impeccably put together again. And Jay and Steph were even later, and a whole lot more mussed. Babs took one look at the two of them and burst out laughing. "That really isn't your color, Jay," she managed to gasp out.

"Every color is my color," he preened, wrapping an arm around Steph as she reapplied her lipstick. She blushed a bit, and then a bit more when he pressed a kiss to her cheek, but she also looked so happy.

The dinner reception was unfathomably better than the luncheon. We were able to laugh and joke, not having to be on our best behavior, and no one had to hide their alter-egos and associated secrets. We were all able to just be us and enjoy one another. James Olsen and Donna Troy, both celebrated photographers in their own right, wandered around snapping candids of us all, with a few posed pics here and there. And there was so much dancing! Sel and Bruce had their slow romantic first dance as a married couple, but after that, every number was played to a packed floor. Slow songs, fast songs, and everything in between. Sel grabbed me and the rest of the bridesmaids for all the Whitney Houston songs, and I danced with every Wayne male, even if Damian protested, though not nearly as much as I had thought he would. Jon Kent was quick to jump in to ask me for a dance as soon as that song was over, and later, I even danced with his dad (Superman!). I got a dance with Wally, which somehow turned into the fastest tango ever, and then a few of Dick's other friends who were also becoming mine. But every time I danced with someone else, I always found Dick waiting for me afterwards. And it was glorious.

It was after midnight when Sel announced that she was throwing her bouquet, and, as her maid of honor, there was no getting out of it for me. I tried hiding behind the amazing heights of Dinah and Diana, but they just laughed and pulled me even with them. It didn't matter in the end, anyway. Sel started with her back to all of us, but at the count of three, she turned and simply chucked the bouquet directly at me, laughing maniacally all the while. Dinah and Diana even pulled my arms up to catch it. I suspected a conspiracy, even as I turned incredibly red, and Steph and Babs cackled like Shakespearean witches.

We sent Sel and Bruce off on their honeymoon shortly after that, and the guests slowly trickled away. It was late, and my feet ached, but I didn't care as Dick and I continued dancing together. Soon enough, it was just the family left, with Alfred gently guiding Damian into the house and up to bed. Cass followed, barely flapping a wave in our direction, and she pushed Tim toward the house, as well, since his eyes were wide open and yet unseeing as he babbled in decaffeinated nonsense. Steph and Jay had disappeared shortly after Sel and Bruce, so that left just me and Dick and Ed Sheeran in the gorgeous garden.

As Ed sang softly to us, Dick and I simply swayed to his crooning, my head on his chest and his arms surrounding me. "Viv, babe, you know I love you, right?" he asked me suddenly, making me pull back to look at him.

"Yes, why?" I asked, my heart pounding as my mind came up with hundreds of possible scenarios, nearly all of them where he suddenly decided to break up with me.

Dick grinned and kissed my nose. "I love you," he repeated, "and there's no one I would rather spend my life with than you."

My heartrate kicked up another notch as I realized what exactly was happening. "Dick, are you-" I gasped out, but him suddenly on one knee in front of me stole any and all words I might have said.

"Genevieve Thornton, I love you with all my heart," he began, taking my left hand in his. "I love your wit, and your adorable rambling, and your kindness, and your stubborn resolve to do what you think is right. You're incredibly smart, even if you refuse to see it, and you care so much about everyone around you, and you're gorgeous, babe. Just when I think you can't get any more beautiful, you prove me wrong and take my breath away again. You remind me every day of all that's good in this world, and why I fight to protect it. I love you, and I want to wake up every morning to your face next to mine. Will you marry me?"

I nearly hyperventilated by his second sentence, but I managed to hang on and hear his entire proposal. And by the time he opened the little box with a beautiful diamond in it, tears were streaming down my face, and I was in danger of losing my contacts. I nodded hard several times. "Yes," I squeaked out. "Yes, of course I'll marry you!"

The words were slightly swallowed by Dick's kiss, but I didn't care. I was just happy to be kissing him.

Dick only pulled back once we needed oxygen, and only long enough to slip the ring on my finger. As soon as it was settled, we were kissing again, and it took me far too long to comprehend that the roaring in my ears was actually cheering, not my heart pumping furiously (though it was doing that, too).

I pulled away that time, and the entire family and most of the Justice League were surrounding us, cheering and clapping. Even Sel and Bruce were clapping through FaceTime from their plane. "Oh, no," I gasped, burying my face in Dick's chest. "Did you do that on purpose?"

He was laughing, the jerk. "No, not at all."

"He told me and Jay he was proposing after everyone left, and we told everyone," Wally chimed in, suddenly wrapping his arms around us. "Congrats, you two! I'm so happy for you!"

Artemis was next. "Welcome to the family, Gen. We'll work out the custody arrangements after the wedding."

A blur of hugs and congratulations swirled around us, and I just couldn't believe that this was my life. And it was going to be that way for the rest of it. And I couldn't wait for it to begin.


End file.
